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PLATE I. 




^ ^i4.<^2'^>L. y 



NEW SYSTEM 



SHOEING HORSES, 



ABRIDGED FROM THE WORK OF 

JOSEPH GOODWIN, 

Veterinavy Surgeon to his Majesty Geo. IV., and Member of 
the Royal College of Surgeons. 

CONTAINING 

A co^rpARISo^^ between the English and French me- 
thods, AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISEASES 
OF THE FEET CONNECTED WITH SHOEING. 



To which are added, 

BSERVATIONS ON BLEEDING AND THE PULSE, A CONCISE 

VIEW OF THE ANATOMY OF THE FOOT, 

NOTES, REMARKS, fcc. 



By JOHN B. BROWN, IM. D. M, M. S.S. 



BOSTON : 

PRINTED BY WELLS AND LILLY. 
1821. 



SFaoT 



Gift 

Miss M O. Codman 

Ma roil 1014 



PREFACE. 



The Editor of this abridgment, has no 
other object in its publication, than to me- 
liorate the condition of that very useful 
animal, the Horse, by presenting to the 
American public Mr. Goodwin's New Sys- 
tem of shoeing. Mr. G.'s original work 
upon this subject is expensive ; and if re- 
published in this country, probably would 
not be generally read by those who might 
be most benefited by it. It has therefore 
been thought advisable to abridge it. In 



IV PREFACE. 

this abridgment the editor has been care- 
ful to select every thing, necessary to give 
to the mechanic, a full and practical know- 
ledge of Mr. Goodwin's principles and 
method of shoeing, and it is believed, that 
it contains information, which will com- 
pensate any one who feels an interest in 
the horse, for a careful and attentive pe- 
rusal. 

A circumstance very favourable to the 
adoption of this new system of Shoeing, is 
that there can be no danger of injury to 
the foot, from the change, if the shoe be 
properly put on, however long the horse 
may have been shod according to the 
method usually adopted in this country. 
The principal alteration necessary to be 
made in the form of the hoof is, at the 
toe, which is usually thick, and not very 
likely to be injured by any one tolerably 



PREFACE. 



acquainted with the anatomy of the parts. 
A bad workman may bring disgrace upon 
any system of shoeing, or any other me- 
chanical operation, however good it may 
be in itself, when properly executed. 

The editor of this abridgment does 
not take upon himself the responsibility of 
recommending Mr. Goodwin's system of 
shoeing horses, nor will he feel himself in 
any degree implicated in its success. He 
presents it to the public, as it is, and the 
public will judge and determine whether it 
be an improvement upon our present meth- 
od of shoeing, or not. If no attempt be made 
to improve, certainly no improvement can 
be expected. Whatever the opinion of the 
reader may be with regard to the particu- 
lar method of shoeing recommended by 
the author, it is believed that he will find 
the work itself to contain much useful 



VI rREFACE. 

information, relative to the subject on 
which it treats ; and it is hoped that its 
pubiication, here, will serve a useful pur- 
pose. 



CONTENTS. 



Chap, i Of Contraction 1 

Chap, ii Of Thrush 11 

Chap, in Of Corns 16 

Chap, iv Of Sand Cracks 21 

Chap, v Of Pumiced Feet or Convex Soles .... 24 

Chap, vi Of Soles Unnaturally Concave 33 

Chap. vii....Of Founder 36 

( Ihap. viii...On the Nerve Operation 40 

Chap, ix Of the French System 50 

Chap, x Mr. Goodwin's System 56 

Chap. xi..r..On Bar Shoes 69 

Chap. xir....On the Patten Shoe 74 

Ghap. xiii...On Screw Shoes 77 

Chap. xiv...On Fullering 82 

Chap. xv....On Punching 84 

Chap. xvi...On Frosting 88 

Chap. xvii..Of Nails 92 

Chap. xviii.On Nailing 97 

Chap. xix.. Observations on Blood-Letting 107 

Chap, xx A Concise View of the Anatomy of the Foot . 132 

Explanation of the Plates I37 



CHAP. I. 



OF CONTRACTION. 



As the hoofs of horses are elastic, it is manifest 
they must be susceptible of changes. Contraction 
is every where to be observed among horses in this 
country, and it is a rare occurrence to meet with 
feet, that have not partaken more or less of this 
prevailing disease. 

The state of the foot is observed in a variety of 
forms ; sometimes, it is perceived that both heels 
are approaching near together, and that the space 
appropriated for the frog, and the frog itself, is 
diminishing in its diameter ; the frog also becomes 
ragged, dwindles away, and has little or no horn ; 



.2 OF CONTRACTION. 

the quarters and heels at the same time lose their 
shape, and finally, the foot becomes larger round the 
coronet than at the base. In some cases it is seen 
that one heel is inclined to contract more than the 
other, and this happens more frequently with the 
inner quarter and heel than with the outer. 

In other cases contraction begins at the coronet, 
and as the hoofs grow down, there appear many 
deep grooves round the foot ; the soles are gene- 
rally thick, and the quarters and heels high ; — the 
term, high, is rather an improper one, but it origi- 
nates in the horse being raised in consequence of 
the descent of the heels below the frog. 

As the sides or quarters come nearer together, 
the foot increases in length at the toe, and frequently 
assumes the appearance of a mule's foot. — Con- 
tracted hoofs are generally dry and hot, which may 
be ascertained by comparing with the hand the heat 
of a contracted hoof with the heat of a perfect one. 
Let a contracted hoof be immersed in water, and 
also another which is not contracted ; it will then be 
seen that the contracted foot dries much sooner 
than the other. 

Horses that have an abundance of horn are more 
prone to this disease than those where horn is in a 



OF CONTRACTION. 3 

less proportion ; but it occasionally affects all deno- 
minations of hoofs. 

On the first appearance of this disease, a horse is 
continually changing the position of his feet in the 
stable ; thus evincing more or less internal inflam- 
mation, and on pressing the soles with pincers he 
flinches. He first advances one leg and then the 
other, if the disease be in both feet ; but if one only 
be affected, it is invariably that which is stretched 
forward. 

When required to work, he sweats much sooner 
than a sound horse, he goes near the ground, is 
afraid to lift his feet up, appears foot-sore, tender, 
and goes very unsafely ; he frequently trips, blun- 
ders, and ultimately falls. In this manner the dis- 
ease goes on till the horse becomes permanently 
lame. 

If the contraction be in one foot, that soon be- 
comes smaller than the other ; and if in both, they 
both diminish in size. 

It is distressing to witness the action of horses in 
this state ; the pain they endure induces them to 
throw as much weight on their haunches as they 
can in order to reUeve their fore-feet ; they conse- 
quently stretch out their fore legs, bend their hocks^ 



4 OF CONTRACTION. 

and lower their croups nearer to the ground. When 
in the stable they continually lie down, and will 
scarcely get up to feed ; in this deplorable state, 
and it is lamentable to know that it is frequent, the 
animal is doomed to the slaughter-house. 

In the early stage of this disease, various attempts 
have been made to relieve it, as drawing the soles, 
which is a cruel and barbarous operation, and often 
has a tendency to aggravate instead of to mitigate 
the symptoms ; blistering and firing round the coro- 
net, removing the contracted parts, grooving with 
a drawing-knife in various directions, and turning 
out into marshy places until the hoofs are grown 
down again, and a variety of other expedients. In 
some instances, when taken up from grass, the feet 
appear better, and the horse again returns to work ; 
but in most cases this is of short duration, and then, 
if in the country, he is sold for a stage-coach, or 
for post work ; or if in London he is sent to a 
repository, where he is sold for a stage or a hackney 
coach, and in this way he lingers out a life of pain. 

It is not unfrequently seen, that this disease takes 
place at an early age, and produces lameness ; on 
the other hand we occasionally observe an old 
horse with his feet contracted, and otherwise out of 



OF CONTRACTION. S 

shape, who is nevertheless very sound, but in the 
majority of cases, lameness takes place at the com- 
mencement of the disease. 

This disease is commonly known by the term 
groggy, founder, &,c., and when the hoofs ai'e not 
much deformed, it is called chest founder, and it is 
generally considered to be seated in the chest. 

The hind-feet of horses are not liable to this 
disease, or, perhaps, speaking more properly, they 
do not sufifer from the effects of it : we occasionally 
see the hind-feet of a bad form, but I never yet 
saw a horse labour under any permanent lameness 
in the hind-feet, similar to what has been described 
respecting the fore-feet. 

There are several causes which contribute to 
bring on contraction ; but there is no one which has 
come within my observation that is so clearly manifest 
as the mechanical effects of the present modes of 
shoeing. 

If we consider that the hoofs of horses are elastic 
and yielding, and that iron is a solid unyielding body, 
we may readily conceive when an elastic body is 
bound on, or nailed to an inelastic one, if there be 
much action or motion, or much weight to support, 
that the yielding body will give way, and conse- 
1 * 



6 OF CONTRACTION. 

quently that the horn of the foot must be continually 
undergoing a change in its form, which I contend is 
occasioned by the shape of the English shoe now in 
common use. Having stated that the foot surface 
of the shoe is invariably a plane inclining from the 
outer to the inner edge, and that the ground surface 
is convex, and also that a piece of solid iron of the 
form described is nailed on to the hoof, it necessarily 
follows, as the horse treads on the shoe which is 
convex on the ground surface, that the whole weight 
must be supported on an edge, and by the nails and 
clinches. Thus the weight of the animal is conti- 
nually squeezing the sides of the hoofs together ; 
and all the horn, at the quarters and heels behind 
the last nails, has no power to prevent the weight 
above from pressing them down the inclined plane. 

To exemphfy this idea, suppose a horse's foot to 
be put into the mouth of an iron box the size of the 
foot, and of a conical shape, and that it is pressed 
by a heavy weight ; the iron box being of an 
unyielding substance, and the hoof elastic, it must, 
by degrees, assume the form of a cone. Now this 
is precisely the principle of English shoeing, and it 
is evident that the base, or bottom of the foot, is 
gradually made less and less, and becomes variously 
distorted in its form. 



OP CONTRACTION. 7 

Some are of opinion, that if horses were shod by 
the worst of smiths, and were not allowed to come 
into a stable, but were kept at grass, that their feet 
would not contract or undergo any change in form, 
but would remain sound. Unless these horses were 
kept at regular work on pavements or turnpike 
roads, no fair conclusion could be made from such 
an experiment ; it is probable, however, that lame- 
ness might thus be diminished in the same proportion 
as the feet are injured by confinement in the stable ; 
but still the animal would be subject to all the bad 
effects of an ill-formed shoe. 

Another cause of contraction is found in the heat 
of stables, and more particularly in the litter being 
allowed to remain too long in the stalls. The ordi- 
nary custom of stablemen is to remove the wet and 
heated part of the litter from the stalls twice a week, 
but in many instances only once, which, being soaked 
in urine and dung, soon ferments and forms a com- 
plete hot-bed. This has a powerful effect on the 
hoofs of horses ; and the contrast of a state of nature, 
and of a bed so heated, must be very obvious. 

There is also another cause which materially 
contributes to the production of this disease, which 
is the bad mode of pavmg the stalls of stables so 



3 OF CONTRACTION. 

much higher before than behind. When stables j 

are constructed, this circumstance is too frequently i 

left to the discretion of architects. It must be ! 

evident, that in stalls paved in this usual manner, J 

the weight of the animal is thrown very unequally ; 

on the fore legs and feet, with the toes up much \ 

above the heels ; the horse being compelled to stand ' 

in this strained position, his weight is irregularly i 

distributed, and the bad effects are soon discovered, ; 

1 

not only in the tendons and ligaments, but even in | 

the feet themselves. i 

Much has been said about paring the frogs and 
cutting out the bars of the hoof, as having a power- 
ful eflfect in producing contraction, and strong injunc- 
tions have been given, that they should not be touch- I 
ed by any instrument. It has not, however, come ! 
within my observation, that if the frogs and bars are 
pared with discretion, that any tendency to produce ' 
con'raction is occasioned by it ; on the contrary, I | 
cons.der it to be necessary. 

Contraction appears to me, in some instances, to 

be a cause of inflammation, and in others to be an I 

effect. In the first instance this is demonstrated by a | 

manifest alteration in the form of the foot previous j 
to lameness ; in the latter instance, lameness pre- 



OF CONTRACTION. 9 

cedes, for some time, any change in the form or ap- 
pearance in the hoof 

Another cause of contraction may be added, 
which is the great concussion the feet receive when 
going fast over pavement or gravelled roads ; this 
inclines them to inflammation ; and contraction, in 
these cases, must be one of the consequences. 

Contracted feet, when dissected, exhibit a variety 
of diseased appearances: in some instances conside- 
rable ossifications and anchylosis of the joints ; and 
in others, the bones within the hoofs have lost their 
solidity, and have become spongy from the absorp- 
tion occasioned by the great pressure from the con- 
tracted horn. 

I have before observed, that various expedients 
have been resorted to for the relief of contraction 
and its effects ; but I consider it of much greater mo- 
ment to suggest a method of shoemg calculated to 
counteract so prevailing and so destructive a disease ; 
and I trust I shall not be considered too sanguine in 
conceiving, that after a long perseverance I have 
arrived at something like such a result. 

With regard to the treatment of this disease, on 
the first appearance of contraction, bleeding both 
generally and locally to counteract inflammation 



10 OF CONTRACTION. 

ought to be employed, and the veins which ramify 
over the cartilages of the coffin-bone will afford a 
plentiful local evacuation ; purging, spare feeding, 
the abstraction of heat by the application of mois- 
ture, and the plan of shoeing subsequently recom- 
mended, appear to me calculated in some instances 
to cure this disease, and in most cases to relieve and 
to mitigate the symptoms. 

Note. — Sorre smiths are in the habit of opening the heels, 
in cases of contraction, by notching the bars and crust. This is a 
jockey's trick. It gives to the foot an open appearance, ap- 
proaching towards a natural form, but the effect is merely 
temporary. As soon as the horn grows down, the hoof will 
assume its contracted shape. — Americas Editor. 



CHAP, II. 



OF THRUSH. 



I HE Thrush, a very common disease, makes 
its appearance in the cleft or centre of the frog. 
A sound frog is full of horn, and is firmly unit- 
ed in all its parts; but on the appearance of a 
thrush it is separated in the cleft, making a com- 
plete division of the horn, and penetrating through 
its whole substance to the sensible frog (which 
is the seat of this disease), where its depth 
is terminated. Inflammation and suppuration take 
place in the sensible frog, and a discharge of foetid 
matter, more or less, according to the state of the 
disease, issues through the division of the horn in 
the frog. This division often extends as far back as 



12 OF THRUSH. 

the hair of the heels, but seldom further forwards 
than the cleft of the frog. 

The thrush is found in all horses : sometimes in 
one foot only, on other occasions in both fore feet ; 
though the disease is more frequent in the hind than 
in the fore feet. If it be allowed to continue long, 
the frog begins to diminish in size ; it grows ragged 
and uneven on its surface ; it loses the tough and 
elastic property of the sound frog, and becomes dry, 
hard, and brittle ; eventually little or no horn is pro- 
duced, and the whole frog is a mass of filth and dis- 
ease. As the disease advances, the heels and quar- 
ters close in nearer and nearer together, and the 
space which nature appropriated for the frog be- 
comes nearly obliterated. 

Thrushes appear principally to arise from two 
causes, viz. the effects of the present mode of shoe- 
ing, or continued exposure to moisture. 

In some cases a thrush produces lameness, but 
most frequently it is unaccompanied by it. This 
circumstance has produced a great variety of opi- 
nions as to the soundness of horses in this disease ; 
and it has long been disputed, whether the horse is 
to be considered sound or unsound. There are 
certainly a great number of horses with thrushes. 



OF THRUSH. 13 

where the hoofs have not undergone any material 
change in their form, that 1 should not hesitate to 
pronounce sound ; but if a thrush be accompanied 
by a change in the form of the foot, I should pro- 
nounce the horse to be unsound. 

Any plan of shoeing which is calculated to bring 
on contraction, is the most likely to cause thrushes. 
It has been insisted upon by modern authors, that a 
principal cause of thrush is the constant practice that 
smiths adopt of paring the frogs previously to shoe- 
ing. This, like most things carried to an extreme, 
is, no doubt, injurious ; but if it be done with judg- 
ment and discretion, I consider it a necessary and 
useful practice. For as the foot is continually grow- 
ing, the exterior parts, in time, become dead, and 
separate from the horn growing underneath ; if, 
therefore, these exuberant and extraneous parts be 
not occasionally removed, a collection of dirt and 
filth is found between the growing and the dead 
horn, which, if suffered to continue, frequently ter- 
minates in a thrush. But if these extraneous parts 
are removed with judgment, I have always found 
that the practice is beneficial. 

There is one unerring criterion for the smith's di- 
rection in the performance of this operation. When 
2 



14 OF THRUSH. 

the dead horn is removed from the frog, he will ia- 
variably find a whitish, mealy, and crumbly appear- • 
ance, where the growing horn separates from that 
which is dead ; all, therefore, that the smith has to 
attend to is to pass through this crumbly or mealy 
appearance, and to show the face of the growing 
horn ; biit on no occasion to remove it. 

The cleft of frogs, or the seat of thrushes requires 
this attention perhaps more than any other part of 
it : the operation cannot be effected with any accu- 
racy with the smith's sole-knife ; it requires a small- 
er one, with a larger turn, which is better adapted 
to clear out the cleft and the sides of the frog. . 

If there is much discharge, a few dressings in the 
cleft with a little ^gyptiacum, or tincture of myrrh, 
and a small proportion of vitriolic acid will be use- 
ful. Afterwards a piece of tow saturated with a 
dressing of equal quantities of tar and hog's lard may 
be put into the cleft daily. 

When horses have been long at grass, or kept in 
wet places without due attention to their feet, thrush- 
es are often the consequence. In these cases it will 
be necessary to remove all the ragged parts of the 
frog, and to apply the dressing before mentioned, 
which in most instances will succeed. In all cases 
great attention to cleanliness is necessary. 



OF THRUSH. 15 

The cause of thrushes, in the hind-feet of horses 
which are kept in stables, is the continued appUca- 
tion of moisture from dung and urine. 

It is a general observation, that it is hazardous to 
stop a thrush ; for by so doing it will affect the eyes. 
If the disease has existed long, it may be advisable 
to bleed and physic, as a continued drain from any 
source requires some precaution when stopped. 

Neglected thrushes sometimes terminate in can- 
ker ; but that is a disease which I do not consider as 
strictly connected with those which are occasioned 
by the present system of shoeing. 



CHAP. III. 



OF CORNS. 



i^oRNs are a very frequent disease, and common to 
all horses ; but those accustomed to slow work are 
less liable to it than any other class. The hind-feet 
are not subjects to this disease, though on some oc- 
casions, a very trifling appearance of a corn shows 
itself in them ; but cases of this kind are very rare, 
and I have never seen the bad effects produced by 
corns in the hind-feet, which usually attend that 
disease in the fore-feet. 

Corns generally appear in the inner heels of the 
fore-feet, at the angle between the bars and the 
crust ; and they seldom occur on the outside heels. 

On removing- the superfluous horn, corns show 



OF CORNS. 17 

themselves by a reddish appearance of the horn in 
the part before named, and if a little more horn be 
taken away, they will be seen more distinctly, re- 
sembling a part bruised and full of blood, which has 
made its way into the pores of the horn. This ap- 
pearance sometimes predominates in the direction 
of the bars, and sometimes between the crust and 
the sole, taking the direction of the laminae. 

Corns, like thrashes, are not always accompanied 
by lameness, though that is a very frequent and 
troublesome consequence of them. 

It is alsp in this disease a disputed point, whether 
a horse is to be considered sound or unsound. Corns 
frequently appear at a very early age, and in some 
instances before the animal has been shod ; if, there- 
fore, every horse was deemed unsound that has an 
appearance of a corn, there would be very few that 
could be called sound. I consider this in a similar 
light to thrushes ; if there be only the appearance of 
a corn, without any material change in the form of 
the hoof, or previous lameness, 1 should not hesitate 
to pronounce him to be sound ; but on the contrary, 
if there be a difference in the form of the foot, and 
if he expresses soreness when pressed by a pair of 
pincers, I should then consider him to be unsound. 



33 OF CORNS. 

It may be opposed to this, that when a disease has 
shown itself, the horse is no longer to be considered 
sound ; but I think a necessary distinction may be 
made where there is only a trifling' appearance of 
disease, without any ill effects, and when this appear- 
ance often gradually disappears. 

When lameness proceeds from corns, it on some 
occasions comes on suddenly, but generally by de- 
grees. When a horse is lame, and there is no rea- 
son to suspect it to be in any part above the foot, on 
the shoe being removed, it is often found to be occa- 
sioned by corns, and this the drawing knife and pin- 
cers soon ascertain. 

Corns appear to be the effect produced either by 
the shoe, or by the horn taking a wrong direction in 
its growth. The consequence in both cases is the 
same ; but the proportion of those which arise from 
the former cause, are infinitely more numerous than 
the latter, viz. an increased pressure from the shoe 
on the internal sensible heel, which causes an ex- 
travasation of blood into the pores of the horn ; and 
if the pressure is continued, and there is more blood 
extravasated than can be readily taken into the cir- 
culation again by the absorbent vessels, inflammation 
and suppuration generally succeed. 



OF CORNS. 1» 

In some instances where corns have not been 
suspected to exist, and the horse has been lame for 
some time, it is found that matter has formed under 
the horn, pervading' the sole and frog. Ths matter 
often makes its way up the laminae, and ultimately 
breaks out between the hair and hoof, and termi- 
nates in an unhealthy sinus, or in what is termed 
a quittor. 

It has been contended, that the only cause of corns, 
is from the heel of the shoe lying in close contact 
with that part of the sole which is between the bar 
and the crust ; and that if a necessary portion of 
horn was removed at every shoeing, no such effect 
could occur; but, however cautiously this operation 
may be performed, if the shoe itself is of such a 
form as may produce a morbid change in the form of 
the hoof, it will be found that corns, with all their 
troublesome consequences, will continually take 
place. And I have no doubt, if a plan of shoeing can 
be suggested which is calculated not to bring on this 
disease, that it will be considered of far greater im- 
portance than any remedy which may be suggested 
for its cure. 

To remove any urgent symptoms, if-the horse is 
very lame, most likely suppuration will have taken 
place, and it will be proper to pare the horn as 



20 OF CORNS. 

closely as the sensible parts will allow, that the mat- 
ter may escape. Fomentations and poultices will be 
necessary, with bleeding and physic, and a spare 
diet ; and as the inflammation abates, and the new 
horn grows up, any simple dressing may be applied. 

It is sometimes a practice on the appearance of a 
corn, to apply caustic applications, and even the 
actual cautery ; but it is obvious, that such a mode 
can only tend to aggravate instead of to alleviate 
the symptoms. If it has been necessary to remove 
much horn, the animal should be at rest, either in a 
loose place, or be turned out to grass, till the horn 
be regenerated. But, on some occasions, where 
horses are required to work before the new horn is . 
grown down again, bar shoes will be of great use. 

There are a number of cases where the inflamma- 
tion does not terminate in suppuration, and where it 
has not been requisite to remove much of the crust : 
these symptoms are in general removeable by the 
ordinary treatment of inflammation, both general and 
local. 

In all cases of lameness rest in a loose place is 
necessary. 



CHAP. IV. 



OF SAND CRACKS. 



X HE Sand Crack is a longitudinal slit, or division of 
the fibres of the crust, which commences at the coro- 
net, and extends more or less down the foot in the 
direction of the fibres, according to the previous 
state of the hoof; on its first appearance, it is seldom 
lower than the middle of the foot, and it is gen- 
erally accompanied by a trifling discharge of blood, 
which may be perceived oozing through the crack. 

The inside quarters of the fore-feet are most fre- 
quently the seat of this disease : it is seldom found on 
the outside quarters, and is rarely to be met with in 
the hind-feet. 

All horses are liable to this disease, though some 
are more so than others. Those of the heavy 



22 OF SAND CRACKS. 

kind, employed in slow work, are least liable ; and 
the same reasons will apply here, as in contraction ; 
for as this class of horses is generally used in slow 
draught, the heels are but little used ; neither are 
they subject to a high temperature in the stable, 
nor accustomed to stand on hot litter. 

This disease also is not always, though it is fre- 
quently, attended by lameness. 

The cause generally arises from an improper 
method of shoeing ; for that mode, which alters the 
natural form of the hoof, combined with the absence 
of moisture and the heat of the stable and litter, by 
destroying the tough elastic property of the hoof, 
renders it consequently more liable to this disease. 

But it sometimes occurs among those that are nev- 
er shod ; for I have observed it among brood-mares 
without shoes ; with them it generally happens in dry 
summer months. 

If this disease be not radically removed, the horn 
will not re-unite ; but will continue to grow down 
with the split still existing. The part separated is 
called a false quarter. 

To effect a cure it will be necessary to cauterize 
the hoof at the coronet with a common firing iron, 
in a transverse direction, makin": a hne across the 



OF SAND CRACKS, 23 

crack of two inches in length, about an inch below the 
termination of the skin, the edge of the iron should 
pass through the horn to the sensible parts, and the 
surface of the coronary ring should be lightly cau- 
terized with the flat side of the iron, to cause in- 
flammation. The iron should also be applied at the 
lower end of the crack to prevent it extending fur- 
ther down. 

A bar shoe should be employed, that the quarter 
and heel may not come in contact with the shoe, and 
to leave the diseased parts at rest. 

This operation will of course produce considerable 
inflammation ; the usual remedies of bleeding, physic, 
fomentations, poultices and a spare diet will then 
be necessary. When the inflammation is abated, the 
new horn, connected in its fibres, will be seen grow- 
ing from the coronet, and the hoof will gradually be- 
come sound ; a run at grass, or a loose place, will be 
beneficial until the new horn is completely grown ; 
and when the horse is again shod for work, a differ- 
ent plan of shoeing, and keeping the foot cool and 
moist, are remedies which will naturally suggest 
themselves to prevent a recurrence of the disease. 



CHAP. V. 



OP PUMICED FEET OR CONVEX SOLES. 



[plate II. FIG. III.] 

A PUMICED foot is that in which the sole descends 
below the crust ; if the horse stands without shoes, 
the sole is the part which will come in contact with 
the ground instead of the crust. 

This disease is invariably accompanied with a de- 
formity of the crust in the front of the foot ; it loses 
the full and prominent appearance observable in a 
sound hoof, becomes hollow and wrinkled, and turns 
up at the toe. It is a very common disease, and all 
horses are liable to it; but it prevails principally 
among those which have flat, circular, broad feet. 



or PUMICED FEET, fee. 25 

There are, however, cases of this disease in feet, 
where there is an abundance of horn. 

As the disease goes oa, the soia sinks lower and 
lower, the wrinkled hollow appearance in the front 
increases, and the toe curls more op, till at last the 
whole hoof becomes completely d.storted. 

This disease, like some others, is not always ac- 
companied by lameness. Horses with (his sort of 
feet, when in action throw the greater part of their 
weight on the heels, consequently they seldom or 
ever trip, but are continually dropping and blunder- 
ing. 

The principal cause of this disease is a defective 
production of horn in the sole, crust, and laminae ; 
the frog and heels, generally are much stronger than 
the other parts ; it rarely occurs until the horse has 
been shod some time, and I think it is much accele- 
rated by the mode of shoeing now in practice.* 

In horses where the secretion of horn is insuffi- 
cient to meet all the purposes required, (and my ob- 
servations lead me to estimate their number at about 
one half,) it is found, even at an early age, after 



* Mr. G. alludes here to a mode of shoeing, similar to the 
one now practiced in this part of the United States. — A, Ed. 



26 or PUMICED FEET 

having been shod a few times only ; for as the crust 
and laminae are thin and weak, they are unf^qual to 
support the weight, which nature intended stiould, 
from the peculiar structure of the horny and sensi- 
ble laminae, be chiefly borne by them. This does 
not wholly arise from a defect of nature, for nature 
did not intend that the animal should be shod, kept 
in hot stables, or go a great pace upon hard roads. 
As the disease increases, the coffin bone and the in- 
ternal contents of the hoof, sink and bear down upon 
the horny sole, which, being also thin and weak, 
gives way, soon losing its concave appearance, and 
becomes convex. It is not unfrequent also, to ob- 
serve a considerable separation between the sole 
and the crust, which in some cases extends upward, 
towards the coronet ; the heels also take an oblique, 
shelving direction forward. 

When a horse is in a state of nature, and on a 
yielding soil, the crust penetrates the earth, and a 
considerable portion of weight is consequently borne 
on tho frog and sole, which shows that the crust and 
laminae in this state have not so much to support as 
when the animal is shod. There is consequently, 
when shod, a double task imposed upon the crust 
and laminae ; when this is considered, together with 



OR CONVEX SOLES. 27 

the weak state of the horn, we are not much at a 
loss to account for the numerous feet we observe 
unequal to support the animal, and the deplorable 
effects arising from such a state of disease. 

In the early stage, the crust which is in contact 
with the shoe is unequal to support the weight of 
the animal, it gives way, bends, and generally curls 
inwards at the quarters and heels, and not unfre- 
quently rests on the sole, thereby causing lameness. 

When the feet are not properly pared, but are 
allowed to spread (which they are generally dispos- 
ed to do,) they become large, broad and flat at the 
bottom ; and unwieldy and clumsy when in action. 

Horses of this description, if going over pave- 
ment, may generally be distinguished by the hollow 
clattering noise produced by the broad heavy shoes 
they generally wear. 

1 cannot omit this opportunity to mention the ab- 
surd instructions which on many occasions I have 
heard given to smiths, not to remove a particle of 
horn from the foot, because, it is said, nature 
never made any thing in vain. Those who give 
these orders must forget, that as the foot is covered 
with iron, and is continually growing, that no horn 
is removed, except by the smith, and that if it 



2» OP PUMICED FEET 

were allowed to remain, it would soon grow into a 

variety of distorted forms. 

Another cause, which sometimes produces this 
disease, and sometimes occurs in the hind feet also, 
is '• fever in the feet." This is by no means so com- 
mon a cause as those before described, but it is not 
an un frequent one. 

Wiien the disease takes place from this cause, it 
produces ihe most distressing effects, and in some 
instances it proceeds till the hoofs separate from the 
sensible parts and come off. On inspection after 
death, ttie horny and sensible laminae, the coffin 
bone, and all the contiguous parts are found to be 
in a high stafe of disease. 

To relijvt- pnrniced feet, the first thing necessa-' 
ry, 'f it proceeds from a weak, feeble state of the 
horn, IS to assist the crust and laminae in supporting 
the superincumbent weight by taking off the shoes 
and allowing the sole and frog to come in contact 
with the ground ; thus in a great measure the 
weight will be taken off the crust and laminae, and 
they will be in a comparative state of rest. All the 
superfluous horn should be removed, and if the case 
be severe, it is probable that the foot will be too 
sore and tender at first for the animal to stand on » 



OR CONVEX SOLES. 2^ 

hard flat surface without shoes ; he should therefore 
have a plentiful litter of straw in a loose place, and 
the whole surface of the foot should be rubbed daily 
with tar and lard ointment. 

If this plan of treatment be adopted, it will soon 
be observed that the prominent parts lessen in con- 
vexity, and an increased growth of horn at the coro- 
net takes place. The crust and sole should be kept 
pared, so as to allow the foot to bear on the convex 
parts, thereby easing the laminae; and crust, and 
affording them sufficient rest to regain their usual 
«trength. 

As the bottom of the foot approaches to flatness, 
the horse will be able by degrees to bear the stand- 
ing on a hard level surface several hours in the day. 
But as a level hard surface is not always to be ob- 
tained, a pair of foot boots will be very useful, and 
they can be used with very great advantage, as the 
bottom surface of the boot can be easily regulated. 
In the first instance, a piece of tow saturated in tar 
and lard ointment may be put into the bottom of the 
boot, which should be repeated daily, reducing by 
degrees the quantity of tow till a hard level surface 
is finally obtained, which is most congenial to the 
feet when they are able to bear it. 
3* 



30, OF PUMICED FEET 

The crust should be rasped down level with the 
sole, and the toes shortened every fortnight. Pro- 
ceeding in this way, a tolerable foot may be obtain- 
ed in time. 

When horses are not worth much expense, the 
best course to be pursued is to turn them out for a 
few months, observing the directions to rasp the 
crust and shorten the toes. 

If the disease is not too far advanced, the convex- 
ity may sometimes be entirely subdued, and the sole 
will even assume the natural concave form, though 
in most cases it inclines to flatness ; nevertheless, 
horses of this description, if properly shod, will 
work well and be effective. They in common re- 
quire to be shod with a bar shoe, in consequence of • 
the crust, irom its weakness, bending and curling in 
different directions. If it curl inward it will gene- 
rally press upon the sole, and if it bend outward, it 
is liable to break, and leave a breach in the crust. 
With a bar shoe, the weight of the animal is borne 
more equally on the whole surface of the foot, and 
the bottom of it is also greatly defended. 

There are many instances where horses have 
done their work well for years with bar shoes, and 



OR CONVEX SOLES. 31 

on trying if they would work in plain shoes, the re- 
sult has invariably terminated in re-applying the bar 
shoes ; much, however, depends on the manner in 
which bar shoes are put on, and I refer the reader to 
the chapter on that subject. 

As many horses are compelled to work when this 
disease has made considerable progress, a broad 
heavy hollow shoe is applied, and some smiths, who 
perhaps work better than others, put on what they 
term a boxed shoe, which has a bar, and on the foot 
side a seat place for the crust to rest on ; on the 
ground surface the nail holes are set down below 
the raised or hollow part of the shoe ; by this means 
the convex sole is covered and protected from 
blows, or the pressure of stones and gravel, &c. and 
if horses are shod when in this state, this is certainly 
the best plan ; but when the soles become so con- 
vex as to require expedients of this kind, a still bet- 
ter mode is to put the horse out of work for a time, 
and to employ the treatment here recommended, till 
he is able to wear flat shoes. 

The application of a very narrow and thick shoe, 
for feet of this description, has been recommended 
by Mr. White of Exeter j but I think few persons 



ar OP PUMICED FEET, &c. 

would venture to ride a horse with thin soles, if shod 
in this way, on a road exposed to flints and stones ; 
perhaps over pavement a horse with such a shoe 
might go better, make less noise, and be more secure 
on his legs, as he would not be so liable to slip or 
slide as he would be with the large flat shoe. 



CHAP. VI. 



OF SOLES UNNATURALLY CONCATE. 



As the perfect hoof has a concave sole, I here re- 
fer only to those cases where the concavity is such 
as to be considered a disease. Instances of this kind 
are by no means so numerous as those where the 
feet are too convex, at the same time it is not an 
unfrequent disease. 

It may readily be conceived that this disease will 
prevail among those horses which have an abundance 
of thick, strong, and firm horn. It never occurs in 
the hind feet. 

In contracted feet the soles generally become too 
concave as the contraction increases, but that degree 
of concavity belongs particularly to cases of contra*- 



34 OF SOLES UNNATURALLY CONCAVE. 

tion, and is quite a distinct disease from that which I 
am about to describe. 

It occurs in those feet, where, if a person had no 
previous knowledge of the animal being lame, he 
would think it, on a casual view, a perfect, strong, 
and firm foot ; but on knowing the animal to be 
lame, and observing no external cause, on a closer 
inspection, and by paring the foot, the cause of the 
lameness will soon be perceived to arise from an in- 
creased concavity of the sole, which will be found to 
be two or three times the thickness of an ordinary 
sole, and when thinned to a moderate degree, the 
bottom of the foot assumes the appearance of a hol- 
low conical dish. 

It not unfrequently occurs at an early age, as I 
have seen many instances of it at four years old ; 
and it most generally occurs in hoofs of a circu- 
lar form. 

The symptoms of lameness in this disease very 
much resemble those of contraction ; and the same 
expedients for the cure of it have often been re- 
sorted to, with no better success. This is also 
called groggy founder, &c. The immediate cause 
of lameness arises from the horny sole losing its 
elasticity, and pressing the sensible sole against the 



OF SOLES UNNATURALLY CONCAVE. 35 

coffin bone ; so that the highly sensible sole be- 
comes pinched and squeezed between two hard bo- 
dies, which produces great inflammation and pain 
every time the horse sets the foot to the ground. 
The predisposing causes are a superabundant pro- 
duction of horn, and the too prevailing stable-prac- 
tice of standing on hot litter in an ill paved stall 
without any stopping. Thus the horn becomes dry, 
hard, and unyielding ; and if an animal with this de- 
scription of foot belongs to a gentleman, who directs 
his smith not to remove any horn, the disease will 
rapidly increase. 

The most likely means to obtain relief are the 
expedients used in inflammation, keeping the feet 
cool and moist; and that these remedies may have a 
better effect, the soles should be pared very thia 
once a fortnight, and such shoes applied as are most 
likely to keep the foot expanded. When the dis- 
ease has not existed too long, 1 have seen many 
cases cured altogether, but it is a troublesome dis- 
ease to contend with, and the horses generally be- 
come fit only for slow draught. 

If the causes which have been named, were avoid- 
ed when young horses first come into stables, I 
am quite satisfied that the disease would rarely 
occur. 



CHAP. VII. 



OF FOUNDER, 



r ouNDER is a term often made use of to express 
different diseases of the foot, and is generally ap- 
plied in those cases where the cause is not very evi- 
dent. But there is one disease which more particu- 
larly comes under this denomination than any hith- 
erto described. 

When a horse has been lame for some time with- 
out any apparent cause, this disease is then generally 
supposed to exist. It prevails among all horses, and 
never occurs in the hind-feet. 

I cannot give a better illustration of it than by re- 
lating the following case, which occurred in a very 



OF FOUNDER. 37 

celebrated hunter. When I saw the horse, he had 
then been lame two or three years, and it had been 
supposed that he was merely tender or sore from 
some slight inflammation ; but in spite of all the re- 
medies that were adopted, the disease increased pro- 
gressively until he became excessively lame, exhibit- 
ing all the distressing symptoms observed in severe 
cases of contraction. Various opinions had been 
formed as to the seat of the disease ; as almost 
every part of the fore-legs, shoulders, and feet, bore 
the marks of a variety of operations which had 
been performed ; firing, blistering, rowelling, &c. 
After having minutely examined into the nature of 
the case, my opinion led me to state that there was 
no prospect of relief, and that, notwithstanding the 
hoofs had every appearance of perfection, the cause 
of lameness would be discovered, on dissection, to 
exist in the foot. 

The gentleman, to whom the horse belonged, im- 
mediately directed that he might be destroyed, and 
after death sent me the feet for dissection, l here 
was no reason whatever to believe, that any change 
of the form or structure of the horn was the cause of 
the lameness ; but on prosecuting the dissection, I 
found that a considerable degree of ossification had 



38 OF FOUNDER. 

taken place in the large flexor tendon, which passes 
over the navicular bone ; adhesions also between the 
bone and the tendon ; the articular cartilages very 
much ulcerated, and that the body of the bone had 
become carious. The disease in both feet was very 
nearly similar. 

As this disease occurs in feet where no change of 
form has taken place to warrant any idea of its aris- 
ing from such a cause, it can only be attributed to 
the violent concussions which the feet are subject 
to when in strong action, together with the heat of 
stables and standing on hot litter. These in the 
first instance produce inflammation, and as the 
animal is still exposed to the same causes, the in- 
flammation goes on, and sometimes terminates in a 
complete anchylosis of the joints of the foot ; if the 
inflammation be not soon arrested, its effects are 
generally such as to render the animal almost use- 
less. 

If this disease be suspected to exist, the animal 
should be kept in a perfect state of rest, by turning 
him into a loose place, taking his shoes off. Bleed- 
ing, both general and local, purging, and keeping 
the feet in water-boots, thinning the soles frequent- 
ly, are remedies hkely to subdue the inflammation. 



OF FOUNDER. 39 

It is very manifest, that any plan of shoeing which 
is calculated to counteract the effect of concussion 
must be desirable ; and I am quite satisfied from much 
experience, that the plan hereafter explained pos- 
sesses this property in a great degree. 

It may not be unworthy of remark, that much 
credit has been given to Mr. Turner, of Croydon, 
for having discovered the seat of this disease, which 
has been called the ' Navicular disease.' Though 
the case here mentioned was dissected before Mr. 
Turner became a pupil at the Veterinary College, 
much merit, nevertheless, is due to him for his assi- 
duity and attention to this disease, and for having 
pointed it out as the general cause of this kind of 
lameness ; for although it might have been previous- 
ly known to exist in particular cases, it was not un- 
derstood to be the general cause before Mr. Turner 
investigated the subject. 



CHAP. VIII. 



ON THE NERVE OPERATION. 



aIavixg treated on some of the most important 
diseases of the feet of horses, which arise from the 
various modes of shoeing now in use, as well as 
from other causes, and having also pointed out the 
most reasonable means of averting those diseases, 
as well as for their rcUef, I shall hereafter describe 
the different plans of shoeing which have produced 
them. But as I have, in the preceding part of this 
Avork, shown that there are numerous cases of 
lameness where no rational hope can be entertained 
of obtaining relief from any method of treatment 
hitherto known or adopted, in this or any other 



ON THE NERVE OPERATION. 41 

country, and a remedy having been discovered for 
the relief of cases of this kind, it may, I think, 
fairly be considered as an era in the Veterinary Art. 
In cases of lameness, hitherto considered as admitting 
of no relief, viz. all those permanent diseases of the 
feet, which have been so frequently advei'ted to, it 
has been proposed by Mr. Sewel of the Veterinary 
College, to divide, or rather to amputate a part of 
the nerves which go to the foot. This operation is, 
on some occasions, performed below the fetlock 
joint on both sides, and on other occasions above the 
joint. The success, that has attended this novel 
and great discovery, most decidedly claims, not only 
the praise of every professional man, but of the 
public at large. 

After a number of successful cases resulting from 
this operation, there were persons that attempted to 
take away the merit of the discovery from Mr. 
Sewel, by stating that Mr. Moorcroft had performed 
the operation twenty years ago. Admitting that as 
fact, what does it shew ? That no beneficial result 
originated from Mr. Moorcroft's attempt ; for if there 
had, we should have heard of it either from him or 
his successor. It therefore appears, that if Mr. 
Sewel had not shown its utility, we should never 
4 * 



42 ON THE NERVE OPERATK 

have heard of Mr. Moorcroft having 
I have also heard Professor Colemai 
performed the operation more than U 
back ; but when he said so, he by no means ii. . .. 
to lessen the credit due to Mr. Sewel ; on the 
contrary, he imputed blame to himself for not 
persevering in it. I have heard there are other 
persons veho have attempted to insinuate a sort of 
claim as being the suggestors of this operation. 
They are, however, in my opinion, all without 
any foundation in truth. I have considered it neces- 
sary to make these remarks to oppose any insidious 
attempts to rob Mr. Sewel of the fame he has so 
justly acquired. Some evils certainly attend the 
performance of this operation ; but 1 look at them as 
I should on the explosion of a powder-mill, a steam- 
engine, a gas apparatus, or any serious evil which 
may occasionally attend any useful and important 
invention ; and however such accidents may be 
lamented, powder and gas will be made, and steam 
applied as a mechanical power. 

The fair way of balancing the account is, to put 
the evils in one scale and the advantages in the 
other, when it will appear which preponderates ; 
and as far as my observation goes, and from all the 



ON THE NERVE OPERATION. 43 

u.f< "mation I have, it is greatly in favour of the 
hotter. The evils I allude to are the loss of hoofs, 
consequently a loss of the animal. Two cases which 
occurred at the Royal stud may serve to illustrate 
others : a mare seven years lame, and another five, 
were operated on for experiment. They both 
became sound ; but about nine months after the 
operation, there appeared in one case a trifling 
separation between the horny and sensible sole at 
the toe. This increased daily, notwithstanding all 
my endeavours to subdue inflammation ; it then 
extended to the coronet, and at this time there was 
considerable inflammation and swelling of the leg : 
the separation increased round the coronet, and in a 
short time there was a separation between the horny 
and sensible laminae. 1 should have rather said 
insensible laminae, as there was not the least sensa- 
tion in the foot at this time. In this state the 
coffin-bone was let through the hoof, and was frac- 
tured in many pieces. The other case was very 
similar to this, and 1 have heard of other cases, 
where the animals, as it were, walked or stepped 
out of their hoofs. The progress and result of these 
cases are very distressing ; but on any future occa- 
sion, and where a similar fate appears inevitablcj 



44 ON THE NERVE OPERATION. 

the slaughter-house is the only humane course for 
adoption. 1 have heard of many similar cases in 
different parts of the country ; but, on the other 
hand, I see many tine and valuable horses at work, 
that were of no use to the owner before the 
operation, and have continued at severe work now 
two years without any return of lameness ; and I 
see no reason why they may not be as effective as 
they now are many years to come. It therefore 
becomes a question with the owners of lame horses, 
where no other remedy offers to be of any advan- 
tage, whether they will work them lame, sell them 
for little or nothing, or risk the chances of the nerve 
operation. A determination of these alternatives 
will much depend on the kind of work a horse 
under these circumstances may be required to per- 
form. If a lameness is not severe, a horse may do 
slow draught without having recourse to the opera- 
tion ; but, on the other hand, if a horse is required 
for quick draught or for riding, I conceive there are 
few persons that would not risk the chances of the 
operation. With stallions and brood-mares there 
can be no necessity to risk it, except in extreme 
cases of lameness. The two instances mentioned of 
failure in brood-mares that had been some years 



ON THE NERVE OPERATION. 45 

previously lame, but on becoming sound again never 
performed any sort of work, proves the experiment 
to have been made under every favourable circum- 
stance : it however shows, that success much depends 
on the state of the feet previous to the operation. 

In lameness of very long standing, where a change 
of structure has taken place to any considerable 
extent, and more particularly on the state of the 
joints within the foot, if the disease does not amount 
to a destruction of a joint, but a secretion of the 
synovia or joint oil has been stopped, and the carti- 
laginous covering of the ends of the bones are in a 
state of erosion, the animal is enabled, by the loss of 
sensation in the foot, to bear a greater degree of 
weight on these parts than they have been for a 
long time accustomed to ; by which means are 
brought on all the distressing symptoms previously 
described. It therefore appears that the chance of 
success depends much on the length of time the 
disease may have existed previously to the operation. 
With horses with thin flat feet and weak laminae, 
the operation is not so likely to succeed as with 
those where horn abounds. The structure of the 
horse's foot is particularly favourable to the success 
of this operation, as there are no muscles within the 



46 ON THE NERVE OPERATION. 

Jiorny box ; therefore as the powers which put the 
foot in motion are situated at a distance, a division of 
the nerve going to the foot has no effect in paralyz- 
ing any parts which are necessary to its motion ; 
which might have been the case had it been other- 
wise constructed. It has been imagined, that the 
foot, after this operation, would become a mere 
block, and that the animal would be rendered dan- 
gerous to ride or to drive. On making close obser- 
vations on this point, I am glad to find that it exists 
only in the imagination, as horses that we have now 
at work, who have undergone the operation nearly 
two years, are considered quite as effective, in 
every respect, as those which have not required it. 
It has also been stated, that the hoof and foot waste 
after the operation ; but 1 am glad to know that this 
observation is imaginary also. 1 have observed in 
hoofs where the operation has been performed, a 
more plentiful production of horn than before, and a 
greater disposition to grow in the natural form ; 
and I think this is a consequence to be expected, as 
the irritable state of the foot being destroyed by the 
division of the nerve, the secretion is more likely to 
go on freely. When the operation has been per- 
formed before any considerable change of structure 



ON THE NERVE OPERATION. 4? 

has taken place, I have no doubt that the original 
cause is in time removed altogether, by the animal 
being enabled to bear the full proportion of weight 
on the lame foot ; as 1 have shown, that if the foot, 
from any cause, is long kept in a state of relaxation, 
the horn soon contracts, and tightens on the internal 
contents, and hence arises the utility of the patten 
shoe being applied on the sound foot in cases of 
lameness. 

I consider the nerve operation an important dis- 
covery, and I have no doubt that it will stand the 
test of ages. Some veterinarians exclaim against it, 
who nevertheless continually perform it, and assign 
as a reason, that they operate because it appears to 
be the only remaining resource ; and that if they 
declined, others would not. Others condemn it as 
barbarous and cruel, and call it -earing out the nerve. 
I rather suspect that this disapprobation originates in 
the circumstance of the discovery not having been 
made by those who thus oppose it. Opinions of this 
kind from persons long in the profession may, 
perhaps, conceal the usefulness of this operation 
among their individual friends, but the important 
benefit it has already produced is, I trust, too great 
to be overlooked by the public. The term tearing 



4« ON THE NERVE OPERATION. 

is also inappropriate, as in the operation, which is 
momentary, the nerve is divided with a knife. 

It is useful to know that where the nervous 
influence has been restored, and lameness in some 
cases has returned, a repetition of the operation has 
been attended with the same advantages as in the 
first instance. 

The operation itself is very simple. Having- first 
ascertained the course of the artery by the pulsation, 
an incision is made through the skin, about an inch 
and a half or two inches in length ; and on removing 
the cellular substance, the artery, vein, and nerve 
are all shown running together, the nerve on the 
inside of the artery and close to it. A needle may 
be readily passed under it, leaving a thread, which, 
on pulling a little, enables the operator to separate 
the nerve from the artery with ease, and to take 
out as much as is considered necessary ; after 
which, the skin should be closed with a stitch, 
which sometimes heals by the first intention ; after 
which bleeding and physic are useful. 

Since writing the preceding remarks on this 
useful operation, the subject of one of the cases I 
have alluded to as having worked sound nearly two 
years, has received a deep wound through the 
point of the frog, in that foot which had been ope- 



ON THE NERVE OPERATION. A9 

rated on above the fetlock joint. Considerable 
inflammation came on, and the horse became very 
lame ; however, through the means usually adopted 
to subdue inflammation, he became sound again in a 
few days. This at once establishes the fact of 
sensation being again restored ; and I have no doubt 
that this is one of those cases where the original 
cause of lameness has been removed by the opera- 
tion, and that now he is no longer liable to those 
disastrous consequences, which on some occasions 
attend the performance of this operation. When it 
is performed below the fetlock joint, there is less 
chance of the part operated on being struck by the 
opposite leg, and sensation is more likely to be 
restored sooner than when performed above, in 
consequence of there remaining a small branch of 
the nerve which goes undivided to the front of the 
foot ; but in laying the nerve bare in this situation 
there is more to cut through, which produces great 
inflammation and much swelling, and is often long in 
heaUng ; but if the operation is performed above the 
fetlock, the inflammation and swelling is trifling in 
comparison, when performed below the joint. I 
therefore, on the whole, prefer to operate above the 
joint. 



CHAP. IX. 



OP THE FRENCH SYSTEM. 



J. HE French shoe is perhaps rather wider than the 
common English shoe ; it is convex on the ground 
side, and concave on the foot side, and equally thick 
throughout. It has eight nail holes at equal distances 
round the anterior part of the shoe ; but the last 
bole on the inside quarter is generally at a greater 
distance from the end of the shoe than the one on 
the outer quarter ; the holes are punched with a 
square countersunk head, deep into the shoe, and 
at some distance from the outer rim, and they are 
made obliquely, to give the point of the nail « 
direction outward. 



OF THE FRENCH SYSTEM, 5J 

On the foot side of the shoe there is a much 
greater space between the nail-holes and the outer 
edge than in the English shoe ; and instead of the 
shoe being straight from the toe to the heel, it is 
considerably curved at the toe, which is called by 
the French veterinarians " the adjusting balance.^'' 

It has been objected by some persons, that this 
shape is unnatural, because it does not correspond 
with the form of a foal's foot ; but this opinion, 
I think, does not in any way prove it to be so, 
because the coronet at that age is considerably 
wider than the base of the foot ; hence, if such a 
notion was correct, we might expect to see the base 
smaller than the coronet at five years old, when the 
foot is full grown. 

The advantage of the French method of nailing 
on the shoes, is so very superior to the English, and 
the form of the shoe is so admirable, that I cannot 
conceive, situated as we are so near to that country, 
how so superior a system has not long before this 
period been attempted among us, for we certainly 
have not seen any plan of shoeing, which possesses 
so decided a superiority. 

The advantage of the manner in which the French 
aail on the shoes will be noticed in the chapter upon 



52 OF THE FRENCH SYSTEM. 

nailing. I shall, therefore, here mention only the 
benefits of the shape of the shoe. 

In the work of Monsieur Jauze lately published 
on shoeing, the advantages of the French form are 
pointed out, and contrasted with the English. His 
remarks upon the consequences likely to follow the 
tise of the common English shoe are certainly sub- 
stantiated by the deplorable state of our horses' feet. 

If we refer to the action of the fore-leg, it will 
tend to explain some of the advantages of the curved 
shoe. 

When a horse is about to move, the first indication 
of motion in the fore-leg is a bend at the knee, 
which necessarily raises the heels, and they become 
more and more elevated, till the toe (which is the 
last part that leaves the ground) is lifted for the 
moment that the foot is suspended. The base of 
the toot, just at its leaving the ground, is almost 
perpendicular when the knee is bent to its fullest 
extent ; the foot is then in the same position with 
the hee's of the shoe pointing upwards. If we 
consider this first part of the motion of the limb, 
we find the movement of the foot very nearly 
describes a semicircle ; and on vieAving- the form of 
the jomts connected with action, the necessity of a 



OF THE FRENCH SYSTEM. 53 

curve at the toe is clearly demonstrated : again, the 
form of a shoe worn out at once shows that it must 
be more suitable to put on a new one of that form, 
rather than suffer the action of the leg to be opposed 
until it is worn to that shape. In the second part of 
the action, when the foot comes again to the ground, 
the quarters and heels touch first, and they are the 
only parts occupied in placing it on the ground again. 
There may be deviations from this general rule, as 
in those horses that have bad action ; also when 
horses are drawing heavy weights, it must neces- 
sarily differ. The fore-legs may be considered 
simply as pillars of support, having no power of 
themselves to propel the body forward, progression 
being entirely performed by the hind parts. If it 
were not so, the action would be different, as I have 
before observed it to be in those horses that have 
great weights to draw, and this may be more readily 
observed in any draught horse going up hill. 

I have offered these few remarks upon action, in 
order to bring the reader's attention to the curve of 
the French shoe at the toe. This form of shoe 
certainly harmonises more with the motion of the 
fore-foot than the English does ; it affords a greater 
surface of bearing at the toe, than the projecting 
5* 



54 OF THE FRENCH SYSTEM. 

ridge of the straight ordinary shoe, and is much more 
calculated to allow of the motion of the leg and foot, 
the labour of the muscles is also diminished, and the 
limb being in its natural position, the ligaments have 
less imposed upon them ; they are more at ease, 
and consequently are not so liable to be strained. 

It may not be inapplicable to remark the faciUty 
with which the Indian people move in their wooden 
shoes, which are considerably curved at the toe, 
when compared to the difficulty of moving with those, 
that have a straight unyielding sole. 

The shape of the coffin-bone (see plate I, fig. 2.) 
is also another proof of the French system being 
more consistent with the principles of nature, than 
the straight ordinary shoe.* 

If we contrast the curved form of the French 
shoe, with the straight line of the English, it is very 

* If the coffin-bone of a fore-foot is placed upon a level 
surface, the quarters and heels are the only parts in contact 
with it ; which proves that they are intended by nature to meet 
the ground first, and to bear the greater proportion of weight ; 
but if the quarters of the hoof be removed to admit of the 
straight shoe, the portion of weight intended to be borne on the 
quarters must be thrown upon the heels, and hence the great 
mischief which ensues from the common English shoe. 



OF THE FRENCH SYSTExM. 55 

obvious, that the latter is as much calculated to 
oppose the action of the leg and foot, as the former 
is to facilitate it. For in order to apply the straight 
shoe, the toe is allowed to grow and to project far 
beyond the extent proper and necessary for the pro- 
tection of the internal contents : and in addition to 
this, if the shoe be made three times thicker at 
the toe than at the heels,* the opposition to action 
must be increased in proportion. 

Notwithstanding that I am fully convinced of the 
decided superiority of the French method of nailing 
on the shoes, and of the peculiar advantages of the 
curve at the toe, still I have two objections to the 
French system in general, viz. the convex form of 
the shoe on the ground side, and the concave form 
on the foot side. I object to the first because the 
horse is by no means so safe or secure on his feet, 
more particularly when going over stones. To the 
second, I refer for my objections to the chapter oa 
the common English shoe, where the effects of the 
concave form of the foot side of the shoe are fully 
described. 

* The shoe recommended by Professor Coleman is three 
Cimes as thick, at the toe, as at the heels. — Am. £d. 



CHAP. X. 



MR. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM. 



In the preceding pages the reader will have ob- 
served, that I have noticed many advantages in the 
French principle of shoeing, and that I have stated 
that it is, in my opinion, superior to any system that 
has come within my observation. 

From the information I have been able to collect 
from Fiench authors, from veterinary surgeons, from 
cavalry officers, and other persons who have attend- 
ed to the subject when in France, and who have 
particularly observed the state of the feet of horses 
in that country, I am fully borne out by their testi- 
mony, and my own experience. 



Mr. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM. ^1 

In a conversation with Mr. Sewel, the Assistant 
Professor at the Veterinary College, who has re- 
cently twice visited the Continent to enquire into 
the state of the veterinary art, he remarked, with a 
degree of earnestness that showed the impression 
which their mode of shoeing had made on his mind, 
" That he had seen more lame horses on his return, 
in the stage-coaches from Harwich to London, than 
he had met with during hoth his visits on the Conti- 
nent." In the report which Mr. Sewel has lately 
published, addressed to the governors and subscribers 
to the veterinary college, it appears that he travel- 
led through France, Germany, Prussia, Flanders, 
and Holland, visiting all the public veterinary 
schools. 

Mr. Sewel was apprenticed very young at the Ve- 
terinary College, where he has continued to this 
time, and I think, after twenty years' experience 
in the principles of pressure on the frogs of horses' 
feet with thin-heeled shoes, that it must be admitted, 
that he is fully competent to appreciate the merits of 
such a doctrine. 

After the foregoing declaration, 1 will leave the 
reader to draw his conclusions on Mr. Sewel's opi- 
nion of the thin heeled sj'stem, or of any other at 
present in general use in this country. 



5& Mr. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM, 

To Sir Benjamia Bloomfield, who is on all occa- 
sions ready to promote whatever appears likely to 
be useful, I beg permission publicly to express my 
respectful gratitude, for having obtained for me so 
admirable an opportunity to ascertain the superior 
advantages of the French system, with such altera- 
tions as occurred to me, in the extensive royal estab- 
lishment with which he is connected. It is very 
gratifying to me to find, after four years' trial, that 
the estabhshment is daily deriving benefit from its 
adoption ; and I trust, that the public also will 
eventually be convinced of the many advantages 
which this system possesses. 

In describing the French method, I observed that 
there were, in my opinion, two great objections to 
the shoe used in that country, viz. the convex ground 
surface, and the concave foot surface ; my reasons 
for disagreeing with this form on each side of the 
shoe, have been stated in the chapter on the French 
system. In the shoe I have adopted, I have revers- 
ed the form on each side, making it concave on the 
ground-surface, and convex on the foot-surface, with 
an inclination from the inner to the outer rim. To 
effect this form on each side, it is necessary that 
the shoe should be sloped or bevilled on the ground^ 



Mr. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM. 69 

side, from the outward to the inward part all round 
the shoe, except about an inch and a half at the 
heels. To accomplish this inclination on the foot- 
side, it is necessary to thicken the inner part at the 
heels, as far as the flat surface extends. 

It may be supposed, that a plane inclining the re- 
rerse of the common English shoe, will produce dis- 
eases in the feet of horses which have not appeared 
before. This is probable, if the inclination be car- 
ried to an extreme; but some years have elapsed 
without an instance of the kind in my practice. I 
consider, therefore, that it is not likely to occur. 
There is only one class of hoofs that such a shoe 
could be applied to, viz. those with extremely concave 
soles, which are invariably strong, and have abun- 
dance of horn, and require a greater opposition than 
any other to counteract contraction by the inclina- 
tion of the plane. With all other kinds of feet, if 
the shoe is clear of the sole, it is not practicable to 
make the inclination to such a degree as to prove 
injurious. 

The manner of punching the nail-holes, and the 
curve at the toe, are similar to the French ; but it 
is necessary that the outward edge of the inside ol 
every shoe should slope inward to avoid cutting. 



60 Mr. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM. 

This comprises the form of the shoe I have adopt- 
ed with so much success ; and it is satisfactory to 
find, that the form of this shoe presents no difficult/ 
to any moderate workman, and when a little accus- 
tomed to the shape, it is made with more ease than 
the common shoe. For general work, the best Eng- 
lish iron will last until the hoof wants paring. From 
three weeks to a month is a right period for shoes to 
remain on the feet ;* but for hard-wearing horses, and 
those that work hard, English iron will require steel- 
ing at the toes ; but in such cases Swedish iron will 
be the best. Having mentioned the peculiar advan- 
tages derived from the curve at the toe, I consider 
it necessary to make some remarks on the advanta- 
ges of the form of each side of the shoe. The 
concave ground-surface renders the animal more se- 
cure on his legs, as he has a greater purchase on 
the ground, and by this form the weight is thrown on 
the crust, or wall, which prevents any unnecessary 
strain on the nails and clinches. 

* Mr. Goodwin in a postscript to his work, states the absolute 
necessity of taking off shoes as often as once in three or four 
weeks (whether they be worn out or not' lor th>> purpose of re- 
moving all superfluous horn, and to pieserve the hoof in its pro- 
per form and size. — Am. Ed. 



Mr. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM. «^ 

In a work published nearly a century since by 
Soleseil a French veterinarian, he recommends an 
Inclined plain outward on the foot-side of the shoe, 
for contracted feet ; but his method of obtaining this 
desirable form, is objectionable, inasmuch as he pro- 
poses to thicken the inner rim, and to slope or bevil 
the shoe gradually to the outer, leaving it much 
thinner than the inner one. No doubt a regular 
plane inclining outward may be obtained in this vvay, 
but it IS at the expense of making the ground-surface 
very convex ; by which means all the points of bear- 
ing must necessarily be on the inner rim, when thick- 
ened and raised sufficiently to clear the sole. This 
• 

form of shoe, though calculated to oppose the dis- 
ease for which it was intended, produces an inconve- 
nience which I have endeavoured to avoid, viz. an 
unnecessary strain on the nails and clinches, and all 
the consequences of their starting ; it besides furnish- 
es a very insecure form for the ground-surface. 

The plane inchning outward on the foot-side of 
the shoe, 1 am aware may by some persons be ob- 
jected to as impracticable ; but as I had formed an 
opinion, that a shoe so shaped might prevent con- 
traction, and other permanent diseases of the feet, I 
determined to try it, because it appeared evident to 
6 



^ ftlR. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM. 

me, that when the weight of the animal comes on ^ 
shoe of this form, it must have a tendency to ex- 
pand instead of to contract the hoof, and I have 
o und, from much experience, that the obstacles op- 
posed to this form existed only in theory, as there 
are none in practice. 

It is, however, necessary to remark, that the de- 
gree of inclination must be regulated by the prerious 
^State of the foot, and its propensity to contraction. 
There are, like all other general rules, exceptions to 
this ; but they are, however, very few. When it is 
recollected that the horny sole, if not diseased, is 
concave, it will in course admit of a convex surface 
being appUed to it ; and when the superfluous parts 
of the horny sole produced since the last shoeing are 
removed, and the crust at the quarters are preserved 
firm and good, there is scarcely an instance where 
this mode of shoeing cannot be put into practice, 
and sufficient room be left also to pass a picker be- 
tween the shoe and the sole to the nails. Should a 
foot, however, be in such a state as not to admit of 
a shoe of this description, if the horse is valuable, 
I have before recommended rest in a large loose 
place or paddock until the horn is restored ; but if 
he is required to be shod under these circumstances^ 



Mr. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM. ^8 

the state of the foot will in general indicate the form 
of shoe most suitable for the occasion. 

Having described the shoe I prefer and recom- 
mend for general use, I must explain the necessary- 
previous preparation of the foot in order to receive 
it. When hoofs are protected by shoes, the con- 
sumption of horn by wear and tear is nearly pre- 
vented; but as the growth of the hoof is constantly 
going on, it is evident that all the superfluous parts 
will require to be removed at every period of shoe- 
ing, otherwise it would run into a state of exuber- 
ance similar to the human nails, if they were not 
cut. The first part to be reduced is the toe, which 
should be removed with a knife or rasp on the sole- 
side of the foot, keeping in view the necessary 
curve : the next parts are the heels, which should, if 
they descend below the frog, be rasped to bring them 
on a level with it : having attended to these two 
points, it will then be seen how much it is necessary 
to remove from the quarters, leaving them full and 
strong, but in a straight line from the heels to the 
curve, which allows the foot, when in action, a flat 
part to land on, and describes a space equal to the 
landing* part of the foot when shod with a parallel 
shoe. This direction differs a little from the French 



64 Mr. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM. 

" adjusting balance," inasmuch as they direct foui- 
points of adjustment at the toe, and two at the heels, 
which leaves the quarters rounded, and renders the 
foot not so secure on the ground. The sole next 
must have attention, the superfluous parts of which 
that have appeared since the last shoeing should be 
removed, this will leave it concave, and the crust or 
wall belovv the sole. Mr. Moorcroft observes, that 
paring the soles has a tendency to bring on pumiced 
feet, but I have not observed any such effect ; on the 
contrary, if the sole is allowed to grow too thick, it 
looses its elastic property, and the sensible sole suf- 
fers in proportion to the degree of thickness and 
want of elasticity. The next and last part which re- 
quires attention is the frog. If it is smooth, firm, 
and even on its surface, cleft, and sides, it will not 
require the use of the knife ; but if it be too large, 
rough, or uneven in its appearance, all the superflu- 
ous parts should be removed in the way I have des- 
cribed in the chapter on thrushes. The foot will 
now be ready to receive the shoe, which may be ap- 
plied without fear of produciug any inconvenience from 
the alteration which has been made from the previous 
method^ but which, ou many occasions, has been the 
cause of serious mischief, in going from one plan to 
another. 



Mr. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM. 66 

It is necessary to observe when a shoe is nailed 
on, that it should be about one-eighth of an inch 
wider than the hoof at the heels, also a trifle longer 
than the termination of the horn, or as much wider 
and longer as is necessary to prevent the shoe imbed- 
ing itself within the crust,* between the periods 
of shoeing. This would take place by the growing 
state of the hoof, if it were an exact fit when first 
put on, and often produce corns, &c. ; it is equally 
necessary, that the shoe should be neither too wide 
nor too long, as that would produce a leverage that 
would be injurious to the foot. It may be supposed; 
that, by leaving the shoe wider than the hoof, cutting 
would be a consequence, but as the heel is not a pai't 
where striking occurs, there is nothing to apprehend, 
as the cutting part of the foot is before the quarter^ 
and approaching nearer to the toe. It is also neces- 

* This direction is too apt to be neglected. When smiths are 
crowded with work, and have shoes ready made, it is for their 
interest to put them on, ' fit or no fit.' This is frequently done to 
the injury of the animal, and great inconvenience of the owner.- 
When a shoe is too short or too narrow, in addition to the incon- 
venience of corns, &c. above mentioned, it produces a strain upoi» 
the foot ; as the weight of the animal is supported by a part, and 
not the whole crust. — Am. Ed. 
6* 



66 Mr. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM. 

sary to remove a small portion of the inner edge of 
the crust at the heels and quarters, leaving it sloping 
a little inward ; this will fit it to the inclination of 
the shoe, and allow the crust a bearing on its whole 
thickness. With horses that have long pasterns, it 
is considered useful to increase the thickness of the 
shoe at the heels, with a view to give support and 
to counteract too great a bend in that part ; never- 
theless, if it is thickened more than usual, it is evi- 
dent that it would occasion corns by increasing the 
pressure on the heels, and would also give them a 
shelving forward direction. 

Having described the shoe, and the previous pre- 
paration of the foot to receive it, I consider it ne- 
cessary to make some observations on the advanta- 
ges that attend the adoption of it. 

It has been shewn, in the preceding part of this 
work, that a material diminution of permanent dis- 
eases of the feet has taken place in this establish- 
ment, and also an evident improvement in them 
generally j and that the proportion of lame horses 
has been very considerably reduced. I could enu- 
merate many instances where corns, contraction, and 
other deformities of the feet have been removed al- 
together. 



Mr. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM. «7 

Notwithstanding the high opinion I entertain of 
the advantages of this method of shoeing horses 
over any other that has come within my observation, 
I am, however, prepared to expect that we shall 
occasionally have lame horses^ not from causes occa- 
sioned by this mode of shoeing, but from the batter- 
ing and concussion of the feet when in quick motion 
over stones or hard roads. 

It has been imagined by some persons, that draft 
horses, when going up hill in curved shoes, cannot 
have the firm hold of the ground that the straight 
English shoe is supposed to afford, and that their 
fore-feet are more liable to slip back. Now 1 am 
convinced, that every one who has noticed the points 
of wear in the English shoe, will admit, that when 
the sharp edge of the toe of the common shoe is 
worn off, which is done in a very few days, the then 
form renders it far more likely to sUp, than the 
broad surface of the curved toe, which, being at 
first put on of the shape which the English shoe ac- 
quires by wear, is consequently free from the disad- 
vantage of the sudden and smooth slope thereby oc- 
casioned. Thus the supposed benefit of the straight 
shoe is of so short duration, as to be by no means an 
equivalent for the great inconvenience produced by 



68 Mr. GOODWIN'S SYSTEM. 

it three-fourths of the time it is in wear, besides also 
the impediments which an elongated toe opposes to 
action. 

Those persons who may be averse to the adjust- 
ing curve of the French shoe, will find that the next 
best shape is a perfect plane on the foot-side and the 
same on the ground side, of the width of the nail 
holes all round, (which should be of the French 
form,) and the remaining part of the web or width of 
the shoe should be sloped or bevelled from the inside 
of the nail heads, all round the shoe to the inner 
rim, with the exception of from one to one inch and a 
half of flat bearing on the heels, and the shoe should 
be of an equal thickness from toe to heel. 



CHAP. XI. 

ON BAR SHOES. 

[plate III. riG. 3, AND 4.] 



A ERHAPs there is no shoe which can be so general- 
ly applied as the bar shoe, and if I were compelled 
to confine myself to the choice of one, 1 should most 
decidedly select the bar ; there is, however, a strong 
prejudice against their use, and I have, on many oc- 
casions, observed horses crippled, and very tender 
with plain shoes on, and compelled to work in that 
way rather than have a bar, when, in all probabili- 
ty, a bar might have enabled the horse to go sound. 
This prejudice has arisen from their not having 
been resorted to except in cases of emergency ; so 
t-hat, to see a horse with a bar shoe is considered as 



:e ON BAR SHOES. 

a notification of some imperfection, which material'- 
ly deteriorates his value, and as horses are for the 
most part a marketable article, it is not a matter of 
surprise why this circumstance should operate in 
this way ; however, those persons, who may have a 
raluable animal possessing every desirable qualifica- 
tion, can have no reason to get a fresh rather than a 
good horse, when such a prejudice of fashion will 
have no influence. Bar shoes are intended to re- 
move pressure from one part of the hoof and to 
€onvey it to others, and are used more particularly 
for corns, sand-cracks, pumiced feet, breaches in the 
crust, &c. &c. The manner of applying the ordina- 
ry bar is, however, very objectionable, as it corres- 
ponds in every particular with the form of the com- 
mon shoe, with the exception of being continued all 
round, and uniting both heels of the shoe together, 
forming a bar which covers the posterior parts of 
the foot. This bar is much narrower than the other 
parts, and is bevelled and thicker behind, and slop- 
ing towards the point of the frog. It is, therefore, 
similar to a hollow cone, allowing the weight of the 
animal to bear on an edge only, which produces all 
the injurious consequences of the common shoe. 
Pieces of sole-leather are freqiiently riveted on the 



O:^ BAR SHOES. H 

bar to raise the shoe further from the part suffer- 
ing'; but in many cases where I have seen this prac- 
tice resorted to, the increased pressure upon the 
frog produced more mischief than the disease it was 
intended to reheve ; in other cases, some parts of 
the bar are what smiths call set down, so as to form 
considerable shoulders on the foot side, which are 
intended to take the bearing on the nearest sound 
part, leaving a hollow space opposed to the diseased 
part. This, however, can only be temporary, as 
the additional pressure thrown on the shouldered 
part is so great, that the strongest crust is not equal 
to it long. 

A narrow bar in the centre of the shoe is on some 
occasions applied in flinty countries as a defence to 
the sole, and is said to be useful. I consider the 
great use of a bar shoe to consist in affording a 
greater surface of defence than any other shoe, 
which enables us to determine the weight of the 
animal more generally on the foot by equalizing the 
pressure on more bearing points than a plain shoe. 
There is a numerous class of horses ^vhose hoofs 
are thin and weak, and not sufficiently strong to sup- 
port the weight of the animal in battering over hard 
roads at a fast pace without inconvenience. This 



72 ON BAR SHOES. 

appears at the heels and quar ers, where, instead ol" 
the horn having' grown nauch s^nce the last time of 
shoeini^, it will be found to wear faster than it grows; 
that the sole is sepuiating from the crust, which 
bends inwards, or projects in a shell outwards, and 
that the heels take a shelving direction forwards. 

In all feet of this description these consequences 
shew themselves more or less, and for them I prefer 
a bar instead of a plain shoe, to prevent the des- 
tructive effects which arise from the use of any plain 
shoe. 

I never find any difficulty in keeping flat-feeted 
horses sound, at work, With bar shoes ; but 1 have 
frequently found, on a trial of plain shoes, that I was 
compelled to go back to bars again. 

Instead of raising the bar by rivetting pieces of 
leather on it, or of forming shoulders or projecting 
parts ''the practice with the common bar shoe,) I 
propose it to take as much general bearing as the 
foot will admit, allowing the crust and frog to have 
an equal bearing to relieve the suffering part ; it 
will only be necessary to remove the horn of that 
and the contiguous part, leaving a small space be- 
tween the shoe and the crust. When the heels and 
quarters have been worn away, and the frog pro- 



ON BAR SHOES. 7* 

jects below them, it will be necessary to set dowa 
the part of the shoe opposed to each heel, so as to 
admit a slight bearing on the frog, otherwise the 
pressure would be too severe ; but if the heels and 
quarters are on a level with the frog, that precau- 
tion will not be required ; a plain flat bar will in this 
case, be more suitable, and instead of making a nar- 
row bar, which soon imbeds itself in the frog, and 
produces so much partial pressure that it cannot be 
worn long without inconvenience, I use a bar wider 
than any part of the shoe ; of an equal thickness in 
all its parts, and perfectly flat on both sides, which 
aff"ords a much larger and more even surface to tread 
on, and gives likewise more points of bearing on the 
frog. In every other respect a bar shoe corres- 
ponds both in form and principle with the plain shoe. 



CHAP. XII. 

ON THE PATTEN SHOE. 

[plate III, FIG, 1,] 



J. HE use of a Patten shoe is to raise one foot higher 
than the other when standing in the stable. 

In cases of lameness, for any considerable time, 
either of the legs or feet, where probably the pri- 
mary cause may have been removed, there is a want 
of action in the parts from a long previous state of 
relaxation ; a shoe of this description is on such oc- 
casions found useful. To bring these parts into ac- 
tion this shoe is put on the sound foot, which raises 
the limb altogether, and so alters the position of the 
leg, that the horse can bear but little weight on that 
foot, and is therefore compelled to bear more weight 
on the lame leg. 



ON THE PATTEN SHOE. IS 

It is necessary to begin with this shoe for a short 
time, and to increase the use of it by degrees until 
it can be worn twelve out of twenty-four hours daily. 
Many clumsy and awkward contrivances are in use 
for this purpose, most of which are of a piece with 
the shoe ; therefore, when it is put on, it must re- 
main continually until the shoe is taken off again. 
The evil attending this is, that, on some occasions, 
the increase of pressure, which is continued con- 
stantly, is too great for the suffering hmb to bear, 
and instead of being beneficial, when the shoe is 
taken off, the lameness is considerably increased. A 
great advantage is therefore obtained by making the 
patten moveable, which is effected in a simple 
way, and may be applied to any shoe which has 
been put on for ordinary wear. The only altera- 
tion consists in having a screw hole made on the 
outside heel, the patten being made of a requisite 
height from two to four inches from the shoe, with 
three branches or legs forming an arch from each 
heel of the shoe ; the inside branch fixed on the 
inner rim of the shoe by a claw ; the front or mid- 
dle branch advanced towards the toe of the shoe, 
where it fixes also by a claw ; and, in the outside 
branch, a round hole opposite to the hole in the 
shoe, to which it is fastened by a screw. 



76 ON THE PATTEN SHOE. 

The direction of the middle branch, where it it 
connected with the arch of the patten, should be at- 
tended to, as otherwise it may lock in the gratings 
of cesspools ; the branch from the centre of the 
arch should be perpendicular for an inch or two to 
prevent eflfectually an accident of that kind. In 
some cases of lameness, from an injury or inflamma- 
tion of the joints, it may be useful to raise the heels 
of the foot to relax the limb during the state of in- 
flammation. In these cases, turning up the heels of 
the shoe will answer the purpose. There are like- 
wise other cases where the joints become diseased 
from the heels being elevated too much, and the 
weight borne on the toes ; here it is necessary to 
elongate the toe of the shoe agreeably to the neces- 
sity of the case, observing that the elongated part 
is curved, otherwise it would do more harm than 
good. 



CHAP. XIII. 

ON SCREW SHOES 

[plate III. FIG. 2.] 



In cases of contraction it has been considered by 
some persons, that mechanical power presents a 
simple and easy mode of relief; but the advocates 
for such a remedy should have well considered the 
probable consequences of a screw applied to a part 
though not in itself sensible, yet firmly united with 
living and sensible parts; and that any immediate 
alteration in form, produced by the screw, must 
equally affect the sensible parts which are united to 
it. In this way I have seen serious injury produc- 
ed. Though screw shoes are an old invention, they 
were revived a few years back by a Mr. Jekyl. Jf 



78 ON SCREW SHOES. 

the screw is judiciously applied, it is in some casee 
attended with advantage ; it should never be at- 
tempted with thin or flat feet, as it invariably pro- 
duces mischief in them ; but where there is plenty 
of horn, strong and firm, it may be used with a bet- 
ter chance of success. During the progress of the 
attempt, a horse must be put out of work, his shoes 
taken off, and his feet well saturated with water 
some days previously to the application of the screw. 
Various contrivances of this kind have been recom- 
mended by different authors, most of which are ill 
calculated to answer the intended purpose. All, that 
have come within my observation, have a joint at 
the toe, with a screw at the heels, the head of which 
projects from the outside heel of the shoe ; by this 
means the shoe is in continual danger of being torn 
ofi" by hitching on something, or being entangled in 
the litter. The shoe which Mr. Jekyl adopted was 
of this description, with as many nail holes as could 
be punched. A screw thick enough to an-wer this 
purpose without bending necessarily increased the 
thickness of the shoe to an unusual degree, and 
where one heel is more contracted than the other 
this shoe offers no means of applying the screw to 
either ; and it is evident that the whole expanding 



ON SCREW SHOES. 79 

power with this shoe is determined on the nails and 
chnches, which, on many occasions, tear out the 
piece before the object is obtained. 

A shoe was suggested to me by Sir B. Bloomfield 
which obviates all these objections. It has two 
joints, one on each side of the toe, and is therefore 
made in three parts ; a centre or toe-piece, which 
has two nail holes in it, and from the centre of this 
a branch or flat piece of iron about an inch and a 
half in width (of the same thickness as the shoe,) 
which extends over the centre of the foot to the 
termination of the frog, on which it is intended to 
bear. As this branch approaches the wide part of 
the frog it increases in width and thickness in order 
to receive a circular hole through it, which is made 
into a female screw on each side. The sides of the 
shoe have three nail holes in each, with a claw on 
the inner corner of each heel turned upwards, which 
are tixed on the back part of the reflection of the 
crust or wall, and may be called the beginning of 
the bars. The two joints being completed, the shoe 
is put on, and as the middle division of the shoe is 
kept on by two nails at the toe, it affords a fixed 
point for the action either of the inside or outside 
quarter of the shoe, or both, as may be required. 



80 ON SCREW SHOES. 

Two short screws are necessary, which are applied 
in the female screws of the centre branch, and the 
opposite end of each acts in a small grove on the in- 
side of the shoe at each heel. In a shoe of this 
description there are no projecting parts beyond the 
rim of the shoe, which is of the usual thickness, and 
having claws at the heels there can be no strain on 
the nails and clinches, and consequently no injury 
can be done to the crust during the application of it. 
It is necessary that the hoof should be kept in a 
state of continual moisture ; each screw to have half 
a turn daily, or every other day, as the nature of the 
case may require. Bleeding and phj'sic are useful 
during this process, and a diluting diet, as it is not 
prudent to give exercise under this operation. From 
two to four weeks will be sufficient to obtain all the 
benefit that this shoe affords. The expansion takes 
place principally in the centre or cleft of the frog ; 
if it were at the heels or the quarters, in the same 
degree as in the cleft of the frog, more mischief 
would arise by separating the horny from the sensi- 
ble laminae than any advantage that could be gained 
by the use of the screw. On the first appearance of 
expansion in the frog, however diseased (with ordi- 
nary cleanliness, and the application of a few simple 



ON SCREW SHOES. 91 

remedies recommended for the cure of thrushes), 
new horn soon fills up the diseased cleft, and in a 
short time presents a frog full of sound and strong 
horn. If the screws are not turned gradually, or if 
they are applied too long, it will produce great mis- 
chief When the screws are taken oil a shoe simi- 
lar to that 1 have recommended for general use, will 
prevent the heels from contracting again, which 
would soon take place with the use of the common 
English shoe. Exercise should at first commence 
with walking, and increase by degrees. In cases 
where I have not had success in the use of the screw 
for the relief of contraction, I have noticed a devia- 
tion in the growth of the hoof at the coronet itself; 
and, as it descends, it wrinkles, and grooves appear ; 
where they take place to any considerable degree, 
I have never seen any good obtained by the use of 
the screw. On the other hand, I have on many oc- 
casions seen benefit from a judicious application 
of it. 



CHAP. XIV. 



ON FULLERING. 



OHOEiNG smiths apply this term to the groove in 
the outer edge of the ground-side of the shoe, which 
is generally continued all round as near to the outer 
rim as the iron will admit ; but in some instances it 
is made deeper, and is not carried round the toe. 
In the bottom of this groove the nail-holes are 
punched. 

The object of this groove is to receive the nail- 
heads, but in general it is too superficial to answer 
this purpose ; when a countersink head is used, the 
groove is made deeper ; but the inner edge of the 
groove is perpendicular, and the outer edge slopes 
towards the exterior rim, to give the point of the 



ON FULLERING. 83 

nail a slanting direction inward. It is considered, 
that the smith who can keep this gi'oove nearest to 
the edge of the shoe is the best workman, and it is 
by them denominated fine fullering. 

If this groove is cut deep into the shoe, it is 
evident that it must weaken it, and if the iron is not 
good, it will crack in the outer edge of the fuller, 
and if it is superficial it affords no security to the 
head of the nail, and if made with accuracy, and 
deep enough to afford security to the head of the 
nail, it is a tedious process, and takes up much time. 
The fuller, or groove, has been recently altered at 
the Veterinary College ; it is now carried further 
into the shoe, and is similar to the German method 
of making the groove, which gives an advantage in 
taking more hold, by driving the nail through a 
portion of the sole on the inside of the crust similar 
to the French method of nailing. 

Some persons have fancied, that by making two 
or three grooves round the shoe, slipping would be 
prevented ; it does not, however, appear to be 
well founded, as such a practice is rarely seen. 



CHAP. XV. 



ON PUNCHING. 



1 HE ordinary English punch is square, and slightly 
tapering, and is made more for the purpose of gettmg 
it readily out of the shoe when the blow is given, 
than for the security that the form of the hole may 
give to the nail. It is appUed in the centre of the 
fuller upon the depth of which the punched part 
depends. The nail-hole is as wide, or nearly so, 
on the foot side of the shoe, as it is on the ground- 
side ; the smith who brings the nail-hole on the foot 
side of the shoe nearest to the exterior edge is 
considered the best workman. 

It must be obvious that a hole of this form affords 
little security to the nail. Burs are not unfrequently 



ON PUNCHIJMG. 86 

left on the foot side of the shoe, from the smith 
having omitted to remove or flatten them after 
punching ; which sometimes produces mischief. 

The holes of the Persian, Turkish, and Barbary 
shoes are punched round, but not near the edge, as 
they have no fuller. The German, Dutch, and 
Russian shoes are punched in the bottom of a coarse 
fuller. In the Portugueze method, the hole is very 
large, oblong, and square, extending far into the 
shoe, and is peculiar to themselves, and without a 
fuller. In the Spanish, Flemish, Italian, and Swiss 
modes, the punch hole is similar to the French. 

The French hole I consider to be much the best, 
and it, in my opinion, possesses some important 
properties, but it requires two punches to form it 
perfectly ; the first a small common counter-sink 
punch, which is struck nearly through the shoe, 
leaving only what is necessary to be opened by the 
pritchel ; every hole having been opened in this 
way, a large and deep counter-sink punch is then 
used to every hole, which must be struck nearly as 
deep into the shoe as the first punch, to admit the 
counter-sink part of the head of the nail to be buried 
in the shoe. 



M Oi\ PUNCHING. 

Much depends on this last punch being drivea 
deep enough ; if it is not so, a shoulder will be 
formed in the hole by the first punch being much 
smaller than the second ; in this case the nail-head, 
instead of being sunk deep into the shoe, will stand 
out ; consequently it will not have sufficient security, 
and the shoe will be more liable to come off. 

Perhaps there may be a little advantage in sloping 
the inner square of the hole rather more than is 
done in the French method, to obtain a greater 
degree of obliquity to the point of the nail. The 
bottom of the hole is pntchelled in the usual way, 
only with this difference, that it is made to receive 
a flat instead of a square shank, and to be as near 
the size of the shank intended to be driven as pos- . 
sible, that the nail may tit and have a direction out- 
wards. Instead of following the French in their 
number of holes, which is eight, / use seven, four on 
the outside, and three on the inside ; this leaves the 
last hole of the inside at a greater distance from the 
heel than the outside, where they are carried much 
nearer to the end ; and instead of carrying the nails 
all round the front of the foot, I prefer leaving a 
Folid space at the principal point of wear at the toe. 



ON PUNCHING. 87 

On looking at the foot side of the shoe, the nail- 
holes (unlike the English, which are very near the 
outer edge) extend a considerable distance into the 
interior part of the shoe, the use of which will be 
explained in the chapter on naiUng. 

If the quality of the iron is not good, it will be 
put to the test by the application of the punch ; 
it will either burst on the outer part of the hole, or 
cracks or flaws will be seen ; neither of which will 
appear if the iron be good. 



CHAP. XVI. 



ON FROSTING. 



r RosTiNG, like shoeing, is a necessary evil, but the 
inconveniences attending it show themselves much 
sooner than the effects of ordinary shoeing. 

In order to avoid wounds by treading one foot on 
the other, it is the practice to turn up the outside 
heel only : it is thus so much raised, that it turns 
the foot on one side, and brings on an unusual strain 
on the ligaments of the joints, which often pro- 
duces lameness. The toes of saddle horses are 
seldom frosted, therefore an unusual elevation of 
the heel, either by one or two frost ruffs, alters the 
tread so much, that it increases the action of some, 



ON Frosting. 89 

and diminishes the action of other muscles accus- 
tomed to strong exertion ; it is also manifest that a 
considerable increase of pressure on the heels would 
follow, so that lameness frequently attends the prac- 
tice of frosting, even for a short time. The ordinary 
method of frosting, is by taking a shoe off, heating 
the heels or toes, and turning them up ruff; but 
this being iron only will last, for any efficient pur- 
pose, but a short time ; and the same process must 
be repeated, perhaps daily, as long as the frost lasts. 
It is evident the hoof must suffer most severely by 
such a continued and repeated perforation with the 
nails, so that if a frost should last a month or two, it 
is probable there would be scarcely horn enough 
left to nail a shoe on with safety. 

When frosting is required, I have found by steel- 
ing the heels, and if a draft horse the toes also, 
that they will last considerabl}^ longer, and conse- 
quently diminish the frequency of driving nails. 
A much shorter ruff also will answer, and the usual 
tread will not be so much altered. A ruff on the 
outside heel is sufficient, if on feet where horn 
abounds, and the horn of the same heel may be 
removed or lowered with safety, to counteract, in 
some degree, the depth of the ruff; but as with thii> 



so ON FROStlNG. 

feet, and weak low heels, it is not practicable to 
remove horn, a bar shoe, with a ruff on the centre 
of the bar, is desirable, or a short ruff on both heels, 
observing to round the corners of the inside ruff, to 
obviate the effects of treading one foot on the other. 
Frost nails are frequently used, but the time they 
last is so short, that the practice is injurious ; but if 
they are on an emergency resorted to, the head of 
the French nail presents a considerable substance 
for that purpose, but the common English nail very 
little. 

Many persons have suggested to screw in the 
ruffs. I have tried screws in all feasible forms for 
this object, but I have never found that any screw 
would remain firm enough to answer any good pur- 
pose. The most efficacious method of applying a 
removeable ruff is to make a short square turn-up 
at both heels of the iron only, through which punch 
a square hole to receive the shank of a steel ruff, 
which is rivetted at the end of the heels, leaving 
the steel ruff in the inside of the iron ruff, about 
half an inch higher than the iron ruff. A steel 
ruff may be rivetted at the toe when required, in 
the same way, observing to rivet the shank on the 
outside of the shoe. To take these out, a few 



ON FROSTING. 91 

strokes of the rasp will remove the bur of the 
rivet, and by a trifling blow with a shoeing hammer 
it will come out. The steel rutfs should have iron 
shanks, and are easily made in a tool for that pur- 
pose. The use of removable ruffs for ordinary pur- 
poses, perhaps, may be considered tedious and too 
expensive, but in a country like Russia, where the 
frost continues regularly for many months, a pre- 
vious preparation for the winter, would, I consider, 
be attended with great advantage. The application 
of ruffs for any considerable time produces corns, 
and alters the natural form of the heels of the hoof, 
especially if they are thin or flat, by inclining them 
to an oblique shelving direction forward. 



CHAP. XVII. 



OF NAILS. 



J HE inconvenience and danger occasioned by cast- 
ing shoes are too familiar to ever}' horseman to 
require any comment. Sometimes a shoe may be 
pulled off by accident, but the causes may be princi- 
pally attributed to the rottenness, together with the 
bad form of the nail. The first consideration 
should be the quahty of the iron ; if it be too brittle, 
which may be ascertained by bending a nail once or 
twice, the na;ls soon break : in endeavouring to 
point them as it is termed by the smiths, the fibres 
split, the nail appears somewhat hollow, and is of 
no use ; the number of nails wasted in ordinary 



OF NAILS. 9J 

■ihoeing forges, on an average, amounts to one-third. 
If we consider this as general before shoeing, it 
cannot excite much surprize that the shoes are 
continually coming off. This inconvenience might 
be very easily avoided by smiths, if they chose to 
have it otherwise. 

The form of the ordinary English nail is ill 
adapted to answer the intended purpose, as it has a 
small head with an abrupt shoulder, a square thick 
shank three-fourths of its length, and the remainder 
flat, thin, and often too weak, even to bear driving 
through the horn ; the head usually stands out of 
the shoe ; as the groove or fuller in the shoe, in 
which the nail-holes are punched, is so superficial 
as not to admit the head to sink into it, the nail-head 
therefore soon wears or breaks o(f, and as the shoe 
has but little purchase on the remaining shank, 
from the nature of the hole, the shoe soon comes off. 
The square thick form of the shank also ill agrees 
with the intended purpose ; as it is the practice in 
all English shoes to drive the nails into the crust 
only, which in about one-half the horses is very 
thin. This form of the sli^nk is calculated to pro- 
duce compression on the sensible parts, but to 
obviate this, smiths, when pointing their nails, ham 



94 OF NAILS. 

mer the square part of the shank on the nail stake 
until it becomes flat and sulhciently thin to admit of 
its being dr' en with safety ; but this endeavour to 
remedy the improper form of the nail produces 
another inconvenience, which facilitates the loss of 
shoes. Those, who are acquainted with the nature 
of metals, know that the hammering required to 
flatten the square shank compresses the fibres of 
the metal so closely together, and stiflens it so much, 
that it brings it to a state approaching to hardened 
steel ; a slight blow or the ordinary concussion of 
action is suflicient to cast the shoe, when the nails, 
being all broken off" just below their heads, leave 
the shanks in the hoof; and when the flat part of 
the shank is too thin in proportion to the thickness 
of the other part, all the endeavours of the smith to 
bring this thin part of the nail into a proper form, 
or stiff enough to drive, is unavailing, and hence 
•arises not only great mischief to the foot, but also a 
great waste of nails. 

A nail with a counter-sink head has been recom- 
mended, and as far as the head is the object, it is 
better than the common one ; but to the remainder 
of the nail, in all that I have seen, there is the 
same objection as to the common nail. 



OF NAILS. 95 

The French nail has a large square counter-sink 
head, (see Plate IN', fig. 3.) which is received into a 
corresponding hole in the shoe, into which it smks 
more than three-fourths of its thickness ; a part of 
the head remains below the level of the shoe, and 
is flattened on four sides, leaving the centre of the 
head convex and pointing. The shank is flat, broad, 
and regularly tapering to its point ; in short, it is 
similar to the tire nail, with trie exception of a flat 
instead of a square shank. The nails should be of 
different sizes, ;igreeable to the size and state of the 
foot. 

I now oiTer some remarks on their comparative 
merits; between the English and the French nails. 
The latter I consider to possess far superior proper- 
ties over any other. The large, deep, counter-sink 
head, as long as the shank remains sound, aff'ords a 
security to the shoe while a bit of iron is left on 
the foot ; but when the English head is worn off", 
which soon takes place, the shoe is no longer safe. 
Another security afforded by the French head is, 
that it is firmly supported by the four sides of the 
couiter-sink hole ; the English, by two sides only, 
and very superficially. The shank of the French 
nail being broad, flat, and taper, does not require 
the hammering before spoken of as so prejudicial ; 
it therefore can be driven into the hoof with all 



9e OF jVAILS. 

the natural and genuine properties of the iron, 
requiring only to be straightened, and stiffened a 
little at the point ; but none of this stiffened part 
remains in the foot when shod, as that is twisted 
off by the pincers, and clenched on its appearance 
through the hoof. 

As the head of the French nails take a little more 
time and iron, it is reasonable to allow that the 
manufacturer should charge more for them ; but 
when thC'trifling waste is considered, there will be 
very little difference of expense between them and 
the common nails. 

In the choice of iron for this purpose, I beliere 
the Russian which is brought from Archangel is the 
best, and it should possess the properties of mallea- 
bility and toughness : a good nail of a fair quality 
will bend backwards and forwards from eight to 
twelve times or more, before any evident marks of 
breaking appear on the bent part : if the iron be 
not good, it will crack and break at three or four 
turns, and split in pointing. Swede iron, from the 
superior strength and body of metal, seems to offer 
great advantages ; but smiths in general prefer the 
best Russian, because they think that the former, 
though sound and strong, is too stiff for the manu- 
facture of horse nails. 



CHAP. XVIII. 



ON NAILING. 



JN AILING is an important part of the art of shoeing, 
and deserves mature consideration, as upon it very 
much depends whether a horse goes sound imme- 
diately from the hands of the smith. From a defect 
in its principle, nailing contributes to the production 
of those permanent diseases so frequently spoken of. 
If lameness is caused by a direct stab, it will be 
seen instantly, as it arises from taking too much 
hold, pitching the nail inward, and at the same time 
driving too high in the crust ; or from the point of 
the nail splitting, and taking a contrary direction to 
what was intended. 

9 



98 ON NAILINe. 

In other cases where the injury is not severe, 
and where the nails are driven too near, and press 
on the sensible parts, lameness will not show itself 
so soon ; and the time of its appearance after shoeing 
will be in proportion to the degree of pressure. 
In all cases of lameness, where there is no particular 
external indication, it is prudent to take the shoe 
off, when, if it proceeds from the effects of a nail, 
it will soon be discovered ; the usual remedies to 
counteract inflammation will succeed in these cases. 
Collections of matter on some occasions are found, 
and produce troublesome ulcers, difficult to heal ; 
they are, however, only of a temporary nature. 
It must have been observed, from the ordinary fuller 
being made too near the outer edge of the shoe, 
and from the manner of punching the holes in the 
fuller, that the nails are intended to be driven into 
the crust, and Mr. Coleman observes, that, so long 
as nails are made of iron this must be the practice ; 
nevertheless, it is not so at the College now. 
It has, however, been productive of great mischief, 
inasmuch as it has a tendency to break down and 
destroy that defence which nature intended to pro- 
ject the internal sensible contents of the hoof 



ON NAILING. 99 

When the diameter of the crust is considered, 
even in perfect hoofs, and compared w.th the dia- 
meter of the shank of the ordinary nail, it cannot 
excite surprise to see the hoofs of horses spUt and 
mutilated in the manner they are ; but when it is 
considered that one-half of the feet of horses are 
defective in the natural production of horn, and 
have consequently a thin crust, this mode of nailing 
must add considerably to the number ; and as it has 
been shown by the nature and direction of the hole, 
that nails must be pitched inward, and as the hole is 
so near the outer edge of the shoe, the nail must 
necessarily be driven a considerable height in the 
crust, to get hold enough to afford the shoe the 
necessary support ; and the nail having been driven 
inwards, it must, in the course of its direction 
through the hoof, before the point comes through, 
have taken a curved direction, when the curved 
part being the nearest to the sensible contents, it 
must more or less have a tendency to press, in 
proportion to the degree of curve and approximation, 
on the sensible parts. 

Much depends on the proper size of the nail. 
I have on many occasions seen smiths, for want of a 
proper assortment, drive large clumsy nails into 



100 ON NAILING. 

small delicate feet, and on the other hand, small 
feeble nails, not large enough to fill the clumsj? 
holes of" a heavy shoe, for a large foot. The nail- 
holes are generally too near each other ; so that 
the frequency of driving nails so near together, 
renders that part of the crust a mere shell, full of 
holes : and the difficulty is great, which smiths 
frequently meet in finding even a sound piece of 
horn to drive the cHnch through. It is not unfre- 
quent to observe a smith drive a nail half or three- 
fourths of the way, then pull it out again, get a fresh 
nail, give the point a new direction in search of a 
bit of sound horn to drive some part of the nail in, 
and repeat this driving and puUing out again eight, 
ten, or even twelve times, before he considers the 
nail safe ; and it is by no means an uncommon occur- 
rence when shoes are taken off, to find where the 
nails have perforated the crust in the way described, 
the whole piece come off with the shoe as high up 
as the clinches. The consequence of such a breach 
in the wall may be readily imagined, the smith is 
obliged to look to the remaining part of the crust, 
where it has not been usual to drive nails, to keep 
the shoe on by any means, he is therefore driven to 
the toe and heels, or indeed any part of the wall, 



ON NAILING. 101 

where he thinks he can get a nail in, and when the 
manner in which the weight of the horse is bearing 
(only on an extreme edge of the shoe) is consider- 
ed, there must be an unnecessary strain on the nails 
and cHnches, and consequences, like those mention- 
ed, are unavoidable. As I have already stated that 
a breach in the wall on one side the hoof is fre- 
quent, and as it sometimes happens that both sides 
of the foot are torn off in this way, the toe and back 
part of the heels are then the only remaining parts 
where a nail can be driven, and the weight of the 
animal is thrown on these two points ; it may thence 
be readily imagined that he will not work long in 
this state ; a run at grass for several months will be 
necessary to restore this loss and waste of horn. 
It is, however, probable, that so much mischief has 
been done to the foot, that a run at grass will not 
remove the consequences, and that some permanent 
disease has taken place. 

In the ordinary manner of nailing, we either see 
the nail-heads standing far out of the shoe, or the 
head is so small, or has been so rasped by the smith 
to bring it more on a level with the shoe, that a few 
days will wear it off. Grooms and coachmen have 
a practice of taking their horses to the forge be- 
9* 



102 ON NAILING- 

tween the periods of shoeing', or to require a smith 
to attend every Sunday morning to knock down and 
tighten all the clinches, and to renew nails. The 
starting of the clinches arises from the shoe getting 
closer to the foot after it has been on a short time ; 
and as the bearing is only on the outer edge, it 
imbeds itself in some degree within the crust ; thus 
the distance between the nail-hole on the foot side 
of the shoe and the clinch must be shortened, so as 
the shoe gets closer to the foot, the clinches are 
pushed further through the hoof, which produces 
the starting of the clinches, which invariably attends 
the English manner of shoeing. 

It sometimes happens that a clinch is not pushed 
further through the hoof, but has started on the 
ground-side between the head and the shoe, whence 
it becomes loose and no longer performs its part in 
retaining the shoe on the foot. It is obvious that 
any plan of shoeing, which produces a starting of 
the cUnches, must render the shoe very insecure on 
the foot ; for the moment the chnches begin to start, 
the only remaining support is afforded by the shank 
alone ; and should the shank have been driven 
through horn already split and shelly, it will account 
for the number of cast shoes which are perpetually 



ON NAILING. 103 

seen. It is too much a practice with smiths to make 
a nick in the hoof with an edge of the rasp, under 
every nail, previous to turning the cUnch ; this is 
done to let the clinch within the hoof, and to give 
it a finish : but it is a bad practice, as it much 
weakens the hoof. It may be necessary to remove 
any rough part which the nail may have forced 
through the horn, but to give the foot a finish the 
rasp is too liberally applied to the clinch itself, 
to weaken it until it is on a level with the hoof; 
the part of the hoof between the shoe and the 
clinches never fails to receive this finishing stroke, 
which is very injurious, as it diminishes the thickness 
of the crust. It may also be necessary to round the 
bottom edge of the crust to the shoe, but that is all 
which is required. 

Having described the imperfections of all the 
plans of nailing that have come within my obser- 
vation in this country, I shall now explain a practice 
which appears to me to obviate those inconveniences. 
The French*method has some properties admirably 
calculated to answer a better purpose, for instead 
of driving the nails into the crust, a greater hold is 
taken, as the manner of punching the hole indicates ; 
the nail is driven within the crust, consequently 



194 ON NAILING. 

going through a portion of the sole, it takes a short 
ohhque outward direction through the crust, which 
is the reverse of the EngUsh plan, as has been 
shown : their nails have an inward direction. By 
taking so much hold, and giving an oblique outvvard 
direction, the smith is enabled to bnng the clinches 
much lower in the hoof, and nearer to the shoe : 
this direction of the nail affords a much stronger 
hold of the foot, and is less liable to split the crust. 

An English smith, on a first view of the distance 
that the French punch their nail-holes from the 
outer edge into the shoe, decides, that they cannot 
be nailed on the foot with safety ; a little practice, 
however, proves that it is not only a safer, but a far 
more secure method. What is here said has a 
reference only to taking more hold, and directing 
the nail obhquely outward. 

I have already mentioned, that I consider the foot 
side of the French shoe objectionable, as far as 
relates to its concave form, which must produce an 
unnecessary strain on the nails and clinches by 
resting on the outward edge of the shoe, causing 
the cUnches to start, and to produce all the bad 
effects occasioned by their starting. 



ON NAILING. 105 

The shoe which I have adopted obviates these 
inconveniences, and I cannot adduce a proof more 
convincing of the truth of this than that on an 
inspection of the feet, when horses are brought into 
the forge to be shod afresh, I have general!)' found 
the cUnches firm in the hoof and without any 
appearance of starting, which 1 consider to arise 
from the plane of the shoe inclining outwards, and 
embracing the crust so tirmly at first, that it does 
not admit of any aheration in the distance between 
the shoe and the cHnch during the time of wear. 

It therefore appears that the following important 
advantages arise from the French method of nailing, 
Tiz. preservation of the wall or crust, and a more 
secure retention of the shoe on the hoof, and when 
combined with the alteration in the form of the 
shoe, which I have adopted, it is calculated to 
prevent contraction, and compression of the sensible 
parts within the hoof. 

The facility with which smiths nail on these shoes 
when titled, is not one of the least advantages of 
this system. All the smiths that I have raokwith 
state, that after a little practice they can nail on 
three of these shoes with more ease, and in less 
time, than two of any other form, and it is a rare 



lOS OPT NAILING. 

occurrence to see a nail wasted. Indeed the pre- 
servation of the crust by the short and oblique hold, 
and the security with which shoes are kept on, at 
once indicate all these advantages, and also that at 
every period of shoeing the hoofs have grown suflfi- 
ciently to afford sound horn to drive the nails 
through, as well as the great security that the large 
and deep counter-sink head forms with the eboe. 



CHAP. XIX 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 



[^From J. Clark's Treatise on the prevention of Diseases inci- 
dental to Horses.] 

Although the method of performing' the operation 
of blood-letting is generally thought to be pretty 
well known, yet there are many untoward accident* 
that frequently happen from the unskilful and inex- 
perienced, in performing this operation. 

As horses are naturally timorous and fearful, 
which is too frequently increased by bad usage, and 
improper chastisement, they require, in some cases, 
particularly in this of bleeding, to be taken una- 
wares, or by surprise, and the onfice made into the 
rein before their fears are alarmed ; for this rea- 



MS OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 

son the fleam and blood-stick (as it is called) hare 
been long in use, and, in skilful hands, are not im- 
proper instruments for the purpose ; although, with 
many practitioners, the spring-fleam would be much 
safer, and, on that account, ought to be preferred. 
When a lancet is used, the instant the horse feels 
the point of it, he raises or shakes his head and 
neck, in order to shun the instrument, before the 
operator has time to make a proper orifice, which 
frequently proves too small or too large ; for this 
reason, those who have tried the lancet have been 
ohliged to lay it aside. 

Many people tie a ligature or bandage round the 
neck, in order to raise the vein, and that they may 
strike the fleam into it with the greater certainty; 
but a slight view of its effects in preventing this, 
and its other consequences, will show (he impropri- 
ety of this practice. 

When a ligature is tied round the neck, previous 
to bleeding in the jugular veins, it is to be observed, 
that it stops the circulation in both veins at the same 
time ; hence they become turgid and very full of 
blood, insomuch, that they feel under the linger like 
a tight cord, and, as the parts around them are loose 
and soft, when the stroke is given to the fleam, the 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. lOS 

vein, by its hardness or tightness, slips to one side ; 
of course it eludes the stroke ; hence a deep wound 
is made by the fleam to no purpose, and this is some- 
times too frequently repeated. Unskilful people 
have likewise a custom of waving or shaking the 
blood-stick, before they strike the fleam, in view of 
the horse, whose eye is fixed on that instrument, 
and, when they intend to give the stroke, they make 
a greater exertion ; hence the horse, being alar.iied 
by its motion, raises his head and neck, a disappoint- 
ment follows. The struggle that ensues, by this 
means, prolongs the operation ; the ligature, at the 
same time, being still continued round the neck, a 
total stagnation of the blood in the vessels of the 
head takes place ; and hence it frequently happens, 
that the horse falls down in an apoplectic fit. In 
such cases, I have observed the operator greatly dis- 
concerted, and desist from any farther attempts to 
draw blood at that time, being prepossessed with 
the idea that the horse was vicious and unruly, 
although the very treatment the horse had just 
undergone rendered bleeding at this time the more 
necessary, in order to make a speedy revulsion from 
the vessels of the head. Therefore, a ligature or 
bandage ought never to be used till such time as the 
10 



110 OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 

opening is made into the vein, and even then it will 
not be necessary at all times, if the horse can stand 
on his feet, as a moderate pressure with the finger 
on the vein will make the blood flow freely ; but, if 
the horse is lying on the ground, a ligature will be 
necessary. 

But farther, the concussion or shock the horse re- 
ceives from his falling down in the above situation, 
which will always happen if the ligature is too long 
continued, may cause a blood-vessel within the head 
to burst, and death may be the consequence. 

Another custom equally absurd, is allowing the 
blood to fall in a dung-hill amongst straw, in dry 
sand, or in dry dust, by which means, no distinct 
idea can be formed of the quantity that is, or ought 
to be taken away. In such cases, I have seen 
horses fall down in a faint from the loss of too much 
blood, before the operator thought of stopping up 
the orifice.* For this, and a variety of other rea- 
sons, which might be mentioned, a measure ought 
always to be used, in order to ascertain the quantity 
of blood that is taken away. 

* A case of this kind happened in London ; a master far- 
rier was the operator 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. Ill 

In pinning' up the orifice, some people have a cus- 
tom of raising or drawing out the skin too far from 
the vein, hence the blood flows from the orifice in 
the vein into the cellular substance between it and 
the skin, which causes a large lump or sweUing to 
take place immediately ; this frequently ends in 
what is called a swelled neck ; a suppuration follows, 
which proves both tedious and troublesome to cure. 
In cases, when a horse may be tied up to the rack, 
after bleeding in the neck, pinning up the external 
orifice may be dispensed with ; but, when a horse is 
troubled with the gripes, or any other acute disease, 
in which he lies down and tumbles about, it is neces- 
sary that the orifice be pinned up with care, in order 
to prevent the loss of too much blood. 

As the neck or jugular vein, on the near side, is 
commonly opened for conveniency by those who are 
right-handed, the young practitioner should learn to 
perform on both sides of the neck. This he will 
find, in practice, to be not only useful, but necessary, 
as he may frequently have occasion to draw blood 
from horses in very awkward situations ; he will like- 
wise find his account in it in a variety of cases, which 
is needless here to particularize. 

The proper place for making the opening in the 



112 OBSEFvVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 

neck, or jugular vein, is likewise necessary to be 
attended to ; for, when the orifice is made too low, 
or about the middle of the neck, where the vein 
lies deep under the muscular teguments, the wound 
becomes difficult to heal, and frequently ends in a 
suppuration, with a jetting out of proud flesh from the 
orifice, which, unluckily, is as unskilfully treated in 
the common method of cure, &c. which is, by intro- 
ducing a large piece of corrosive sublimate into the 
wound ; this not only destroys the proud flesh in the 
lips of the wound, but a considerable portion of the 
flesh around it ; and, in farriery, it is called coreing 
out the vein. It frequently happens, that this corro- 
sive application destroys the vein likewise ; I have 
sometimes seen violent haemorrhages follow from this 
cause, insomuch as to endanger the life of the animal. 

The most proper place for making the opening in 
jugular veins, is, where the teguments are thinnest, 
which is about a hand breadth from the head, and 
about one inch below the branching or joining of the 
vein which comes irom the lower jaw, and which 
may be distinctly seen, when any pressure is made 
on the main branch of the vein. 

In performing the operation with a fleam, the ope- 
rator should hold the fleam between the fore-finger 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 113 

and thumb of the left hand, with the second finger 
he is to make a sHght pressure on the vein, and, be- 
fore it becomes too turgid or full, make the opening ; 
the same degree of pressure is to be continued on 
the vein, till such time as the quantity of blood to 
be taken away is received into a proper measure. 

Another great error, which generally prevails in 
opening the veins with a fleam, is the applying too 
great force, or giving too violent a stroke to it, by 
which it is forced through the opposite side of the 
vein ; hence, there is danger of wounding the coats 
of the arteries, as they generally lie under the veins, 
or, in some particular places, of wounding the ten- 
dons, especially when this operation is performed in 
the legs, thighs, &.c. or in the veins, commonly called 
the plate veins, under the breast, the consequences 
are frequently very troublesome to remove, and, in 
some cases, prove fatal ; hence, the remedy some- 
times proves worse than the disease or lameness it 
was intended to remove. Mr. Gibson,* in his trea 
tise on the diseases of horses, mentions a case of a 
fine horse, that was blooded in the plate veins, for a 
lameness of the shoulder, which was followed with 

* VoL II. page 187. 
10* 



1J4 OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-I.ETTING. 

a hard oval swelling about the size of a goose 9gg, 
which extended upwards on the breast, and likewise 
down the leg, attended with excessive pain, fever, 
deadness in the horse's looks, and all the other 
symptoms of a beginning mortification. I could 
likewise add a number of similar cases, which have 
fallen under my own inspection, but shall not trouble 
the reader with them at present. 

In order to avoid the consequences sometimes at- 
tending these local operations in the breast, legs, 
&c. and, as horses are more or less troublesome and 
restless, whereby accidents of this kind may hap- 
pen, it will perhaps be adviseable, in most cases 
of lameness, &c. to draw blood from the larger 
veins in the neck only, where there is less dan- 
ger of accidents, more especially if a spring fleam 
is used ; for, although it might be of some advan- 
tage, in particular cases, to draw blood as near 
the affected part as possible, yet the bad consequen- 
ces frequently attending it, ought to counterbalance 
any advantages that may be expected from it, espe- 
cially as the quantity of blood drawn from the small 
veins is but inconsiderable, and, of course, no great 
benefit can be expected from it in horses when 
they are diseased. 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 115 

The principal view, in drawing blood, is the 
lessening of its quantity, by which the remaining 
mass circulates with more freedom in the vessels ; 
it likewise takes off the inflammatory tendency of 
the blood, it removes spasms, &c. and prevents 
other bad consequences that may follow, especial- 
ly in plethoric habits ; and it ought always to be 
remembered, that, when the signs or symptoms of 
a disease are taken from the motion of the blood, 
the disorders arising from it depend upon its circu- 
lation being either increased or diminished ; hence, 
therefore, all the changes which take place in the 
texture, quantity, and quality of the blood, are at- 
tended with a diminution or increase of its velo- 
city. 

Although the cases which may require bleeding 
are numerous, yet I would recommend one gene- 
ral caution, which is, never to take away blood 
but when it is absolutely necessary ; for it is a fluid 
that may be easily taken away, but cannot be so 
easily replaced ; besides, the practice of bleeding 
frequently, or at stated times, is exceedingly im- 
proper, as it disposes the body to become lax, 
weak, and plethoric. 



116 OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 

In bleeding, therefore, a due regard must always 
be had to the constitution, age, strength, &c. of 
horses, and the state or habit of body they are in 
at the time. 

It is commonly said, that the taking away a little 
blood from horses, even when they are in health, 
or when they are in the least indisposed, will do 
no harm ; this, in one sense, may be allowed to be 
literally true, but why draw blood from them on 
every trifling occasion, unless there may be such 
symptoms attending as may require it. I have ob- 
served in many horses who have been very fre- 
quently blooded, and which may be easily known, 
from the cicatrices or marks on the neck-veins, that 
their blood was poor and thin, and had lost that te- 
nacity peculiar to rich blood, together with a con- 
siderable portion of its florid and red colour. Butch- 
ers who slaughter calves, may find their account in 
bleeding them frequently, as it renders their flesh 
white, by taking away the red particles of the blood. 
But in horses it is quite otherwise, as they are des- 
tined for hard labour and active exercises, it impairs 
their constitutions, subjects them to diseases, and 
hastens a premature old age. 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. U1 

As the blood of horses, more especially those who 
are constantly employed in hard labour, or in active 
exercises, when drawn from a vein, appears of a 
darkish or deep red colour even in the highest state 
of health, it is commonly said to be bad blood, and 
more so, when a thick yellow or buff-coloured crust 
forms on the surface after it is cold ; hence these 
appearances are said to require a repetition of bleed- 
ing"; for it very unluckily happens, that most of the 
diseases to which horses are subject, are thought to 
proceed from some impurities or humours, as they 
are called, in the blood, which require to be drained 
off by bleeding, and other evacuations. 

With regard to any information that may be 
drawn from the appearance of the blood when cold, 
it will be found, that no certain conclusion can be 
formed from it, since blood that is drawn from a 
horse who is evidently disordered, will sometimes 
have the same appearance, when cold, as that drawn 
from a horse in health. On the other hand, blood 
drawn from a horse in health, will sometimes have all 
the appearance of that drawn from one labouring un- 
der the most dangerous disease ; and this may depend 
on so many concurring causes, that renders it difficult 
to fix any precise standard how we may judge, eith- 



118 OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 

€r of the health}' or morbid state of the blood in 
horses when cold ; as its appearances are even af- 
fected by the manner in which the operation of 
blood-letting is performed, and that of the blood's 
being received into the vessel. 

When blood is drawn from a vein of a horse that 
is in health, it appears to be an uniform fluid of a 
red or darkish colour; but, after it has been exposed 
to the cold air, &c. it coagulates into a stiff mass, 
which gradually separates the thinner parts into a 
pellucid serum, the thicker parts into a red or dark- 
ish mass, which is called the crassamentum. 

Although I am thus sparing of drawing blood from 
horses on trifling occasions, when they may be said 
to be in health, yet when cases occur that do require 
it, I would recommend the taking away a greater 
quantity at once than is generally done, that is, from 
six to eight pounds, which will be about three or 
four quarts English measure, according to the ur- 
gency of the symptoms, &,c. at the time, the 
strength and age of the horse considered. For, as 
horses are very subject to inflammatory diseases, 
and those that are of the spasmodic kind, and as 
bleeding plentifully relaxes the whole system in 
these cases, the taking away a small quantity of 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 119 

blood, about one quart, or two pounds, is in fact tri- 
fling with the disease ; the horse is said to have 
been blooded, that satisfies his ovvner and the far- 
rier; time is lost; the disease acquires strength, it 
will then be beyond the power of art to mitigate or 
to conquer it ; hence the horse falls a sacrifice to 
timidity and ignorance. It is to be remembered, 
that, in inflammatory diseases, (particularly when the 
bowels are affected) that they make a very rapid 
progress in horses, «nd, if they are not overcome at 
the beginning, by bleeding plentifully, the horse com- 
monly dies, in twenty-four or thirty hours, of a gan- 
grene and mortification in the intestines. I have 
seen so many cases of this kind, and which have 
been confirmed on dissecting the bodies afterwards, 
that I cannot be too full on the subject, in warning 
practitioners how they should act in such cases; and, 
perhaps, few occurrences in practice gave me more 
uneasiness than to be consulted in the last stage of 
these complaints, when nothing could be done for 
the relief of the horse. 

The quantity of blood here recommended to be 
taken away at once, may, by many people, be ob- 
jected to : In answer to which, I would observe, 
that, in inflammatory cases, I have always found the 
greatest benefit from it in practice. 



120 OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 

The blood is a fluid of a peculiar nature ; it is the 
great fountain of life, and the source of all the hu- 
mours in the body ; it circulates through, and nour- 
ishes «very part of the animal system, being convey- 
ed from the heart by the arteries to the extremities 
and surface of the body, and returned to the heart 
again by the veins. This ciixulation is so complete, 
that the most trifling wound or scratch is imme- 
diately followed with a discharge of blood from 
the small capillary vessels of the skin. In order to 
explain more fully how the circulation is performed, 
it will be necessary to give a short description of the 
heart, the arteries and veins, with some general re- 
marks on the pulse of horses. 

The heart is a muscle of a conic figure, that is, 
broad at its basis, and terminating in a blunt apex or 
point ; it has four cavities, two of which are called 
auricles or ears, and the other two ventricles. The 
auricles are situated at the basis of the heart, and 
receive the blood immediately from the veins ; 
the right from the vein called vena cava, and 
the left from the pulmonary vein ; at the bottom 
of these auricles, are certain valves which open 
into the ventricles, and shut again when the lat- 
ter are filled with blood, in order to prevent its 
return to the auricles: Thus, when the right 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING, 121 

rentricle receives the blood through its auricle, 
the valves shut, and the blood is forced, by the con- 
traction of the heart, from the ventricle into the 
pulmonary artery, which rises immediately out of 
the right ventricle, and is carried into the lungs ; it 
is returned from thence by the pulmonary veins into 
the left auricle, which empties itself into the ven- 
tricle on the same side, and by it the blood is forced 
into the great artery or aorta, vrhich rises out of that 
ventricle, and which conveys it all over the body ; 
the blood is returned to the heart by the veins 
(which, in their course, take in the chyle or nourish- 
ment) to the right auricle of the heart, which com- 
pletes the circulation. 

'ihe heart is fixed at its basis, by the vessels, &c. 
which belong to it, and to the mediastinum, &i,c. ; it is 
contained in a bag or purse, called the pericardium, 
within which there is a small quantity of a clear wa- 
tery lymph, separated there by the exhaling vessels, 
that the surface of the heart may not grow dry from 
its continued motion ; the heart is supplied with 
nerves and blood-vessels for its own nourishment. 

The arteries are conical tubes or pipes, which 
convey the blood from the heart to all the parts of 
the body ; they posses a very elastic quahty, by 
11 



122 OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 

which they contract and dilate themselves, accord- 
ing to the impulse of the blood, which is propelled 
or forced into them by the heart ; 1 his contraction 
and dilation of the arteries is called the pulse, and 
which takes place in all the arteries at the same in- 
stant of time ; for, as the left ventricle throws out 
the blood into the arteries, they are dilated, and, as 
soon as the elasticity of the arteries can overcome 
the impulse of the blood, they are again contracted; 
hence these two causes, viz. the action of the heart, 
and the elasticity of the arteries, operating alternate- 
ly, keep the blood in a continual circulation. 

The arteries being conical canals, are large at 
their origin, and gradually diminish towards their 
extremities (resembling the trunk and branches of a 
tree) where they anastamose, or join with the ex- 
treme branches of the veins ; hence, the latter may 
be said to be a continuation of the arteries. 

The veins, as 1 have just now mentioned, are a 
continuation of the extreme capillary arteries re- 
flected back towards the heart, uniting their chan- 
nels or branches as they approach it, till at last 
they lorm the larger veins ; hence, they may be 
said to resemble the branches and trunk of a tree, 
inverted from the extremities to the heart. There 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 123 

is no pulsation in the veins, because the blood is 
thrown into them in a continued stream from a nar- 
row channel to a wider. 

In most of the veins where the blood rises in a 
perpendicular column, as in the legs, &c. there are 
valves which open towards the heart, and admit 
the blood to pass freely ; but it cannot fall back or 
repass these valves ; therefore, if it is not pushed 
on with sufficient force, it may distend the veins, and 
cause a sweHing of the legs. Hence it is observ- 
ed, that this lentor or sluggish circulation of the 
blood in the leg-veins, is removed, and the circula- 
tion greatly forwarded, by muscular motion, or, in 
other words, by exercise. 

The veins, for the most part, accompany the ar- 
teries ; hence, when a vein must be opened, it is to 
be remembered, that an artery is near, and, fre- 
quently, immediately under it, as large as the vein 
itself, (and which may be easily distinguished by its 
pulsation ;) and hence the coats of the arteries are 
liable to be wounded by an unskilful operator in 
drawing blood. The extreme branches of the arte- 
ries and veins have numerous communications with 
one another, resembling the fibres in the leaves of 
plants, by which communications, the blood, when 



lU OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 

obstructed from any cause in the branchings of these 
vessels, may pass through by other channels that are 
not obstructed ; this hkewise takes place when the 
larger vessels are divided ; the circulation is contin- 
ued by the detached branches of the remainmg 
veins. 

These remarks being premised, it remains to 
make some observations on the pulse of the arteries 
in horses, a due attention to which is of the utmost 
consequence to practitioners in farriery, and which, 
in the general practice, seems either to be not un- 
derstood, or not attended to ; for, without a proper 
knowledge of the pulse, we neither can form a right 
judgment of diseases, in which the vascular system 
is affected, the velocity of the blood increased or 
diminished, neither can we judge rightly when it is 
necessary to let blood, nor to refrain from it. It 
will therefore be proper, first to consider the pulse 
in a healthy state, before we can form a just idea of 
it when a disease takes place. 

The pulse of a horse that is in health, and nowise 
terrified or alarmed, is from thirty-six to forty beats 
in a minute ; it may easily be felt by pressing the fin- 
gers gently on the temporal artery, which is situated 
about an inch and a half backwards from the upper 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 125 

corner of the eye. It is necessary to observe, that, 
if the fingers are pressed too hard, (as the bone or 
scull lies below the artery,) no pulsation will be felt, 
as too great pressure stops the circulation in the ar- 
tery at the time. It is likewise necessary to observe, 
that the pulse of a horse, about thirteen or fourteen 
hands high, is quicker than one of a larger size. 
When a horse is in great pain, or in a violent fever, 
the pulse will be raised from eighty to one hundred 
beats in a minute, and sometimes considerably above 
it* 

The pulse in a healthy state, is equal, moderate, 
and free, which shows, that the heart and vascular 
system in general are firm and vigorous, and that the 
heart empties itself freely at each contraction and 
dilation, that there is no impediment to the passage 
of the fluids, through the viscera and vessels, and 

* It is necessary to observe here, that the pulse of young ani- 
mals are quicker than they are as they advance in life, and that, 
in old age, they gradually decrease in fieqiiency. If the pulse of 
a middle aged horse, much exceeds forty-five strokes in a minute, 
some inflammatory disorder must be the cause. If much slower 
the horse is labouring under debility. Exercise increases the fre- 
quency of the pulse in all animals. The proper time therefore, 
to examine the pulse of a horse, is not until after he has been 
at rest, some hours at least. — Am. Ed. 

n* 



126 OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 

that the nervous power acts uniformly upon every 
part of the circulating system. Whereas, in a mor- 
bid or diseased state, it will be unequal and inter- 
mitting every now and then, varying in the time be- 
tween the strokes, as well as the ibrce of the stroke ; 
sometimes it will stop entirely, and sometimes it will 
be immodeiMtely quick, at others unnaturally slow ; 
sometimes it will be raised greatly above the healthy 
degree of strength, and at others sunk as much be- 
low it. This unequal or intermitting pulse, shows, 
that the nervous sjstem is greatly disordered, and 
portends great danger, especially if it becomes so 
after long illness, when the strength is much ex- 
hausted. 

When the pulse beats strong and quick, it shows, 
that the morbid or diseased stimulus, excites the 
heart to expel the blood, with great force, and that 
the progressive motion of the blood is more rapid 
and impetuous than it ought to be ; as this strong 
pulse strains and speedily exhausts the vital powers, 
it portends great danger, if not soon removed. 

The hard, quick, and strong pulse, is generally a 
symptom of considerable irritation, and shows, that 
the heart is greatly stimulated ; this takes place in 
inflammations of the viscera, as in peripneumony, 
or inflammation of the lungs, stomach, intestines. 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 127 

The hard, quick, low, or small pulse, shows great 
inward pain, which, by sj^rapathetically affecting the 
heart, excites it to empty its ventricles before they 
are sufficiently filled with blood. 

A quick pulse is generally a sign of a fever ; when 
it is exceedingly quick and weak, it is always a very 
dangerous symptom, as it shows, that the powers 
of the heart are nearly exhausted, and that, in order 
to support the circulation, it is forced to act more 
frequently, and to empty its ventricles by a number 
of weak contractions. 

When the pulse beats soft and weak, it may be 
owing to a general laxity of the fibres of the arte- 
ries, or to a thin watery state of the blood, which 
enables it to glide too easily through the vessels, 
that the heart is not under the necessity of exerting 
so much force in propelling it through the arteries, 
as when they are more firm or unyieldmg, or when 
the blood is more dense or viscid, which are great 
impediments to a free circulation in particular or- 
gans. 

A weak pulse is a sign either of a considerable 
debility or weakness of the heart, or too small a 
quantity of blood in the vessels in general, or some 
impediment to- the influx of the blood into the heart, 



128 OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 

or to some, or all of these causes combined ; for this 
I'eason, it is to be met with frequently in low fevers, 
or towards the end of diseases that prove fatal. 

When the pulse remains full under the fingers dur- 
ing the contraction and dilation of the arteries, it is 
a sign ol too great fulness of the vessels, either from 
a plethora, or too great a rarification of the fluids, 
by febrile, heat, or other causes ; it indicates danger 
from accumulation, distension, and even rupture of 
some of the blood vessels in particular organs. 
But, if the pulse, though full, is at the same time 
soft and distinct, it is a favourable symptom, as it 
shows, that there is no considerable constriction in 
the vessels. 

Upon the whole, the pulse is always bad when it 
is very diflFerent from its natural state ; for, as a weak 
and quick pulse shows debility in the heart and vas- 
cular system, regard at the same time being always 
had to other symptoms, if the pulse sink in fevers 
there is great danger. 

On the other hand, when the pulse is equal, re- 
gular, and moderately full, especially if it becomes 
so from being languid, weak, and irregular, on the 
breaking out of some critical discharge, as that of 
sweat or looseness, or the staleing frequently, it is a 
sign of amendment. 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 12» 

From what has been observed, it will be obvious, 
that the information to be attamed from a due atten- 
tion to the state of the pulse in the diseases of hor- 
ses, is of consequence in the practice of farriery. 
Young practitioners ought therefore to make them- 
selves well acquainted with all the variations that 
take place in diseases, together with the changes 
that happen when deviating from the healthy state 
to the morbid or diseased. 

It may be necessary again to observe, that, in 
feeling the pulse of a horse in health, that he be 
not frightened, nor anywise alarmed, as that will 
make an alteration in the quickness of the pulse, 
which will be apt to mislead the unexperienced. 

Thus much may suffice at present concerning the 
pulse in general ; it will be necessary to be more 
particular when the signs to be taken from it are ap- 
plied to particular diseases, and corroborated by 
other symptoms, I shall therefore proceed to enu- 
merate the different cases that may require bleed- 
ing. 

The cases which may require bleeding, are in all 
violent bruises or strains in the muscular or tende- 
nous parts ; in large wounds, especially when there is 
a laceration or tearing of the parts without much 



130 OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 

loss of blood from the wound ; in the beginning of 
all cuticular disorders or eruptions on the skin, as 
little pustules, dry scabs, &c. ; in large swellings on 
the body or legs ; in all deep punctures, or small 
wounds, when the horse shows symptoms of great 
pain, &,c. ; in swellings of the legs and heels, from 
inflammations, &c. 

Bleeding is necessary in most diseases where great 
sickness prevails, and is the speediest method of 
giving relief in the beginning of inflammatory fevers, 
to which horses are very liable ; it is also necessary 
in all violent acute pains, as in the gripes or cho- 
lic, strangury or suppression of urine ; in rheumatic 
complaints, where the stifihess or lameness shifts 
from one limb to another, or when it affects the 
neck, and causing great stifihess, which is commonly 
called the chords ; in inflammations of the eyes, or 
palate of the mouth, which is called the lampars, 
when the horse cannot eat his food on account of 
the tenderness of the parts ; in all recent colds, at- 
tended with rheums or defluctions about the throat, 
eyes, &c. ; in recent swellings of the glands about 
the throat, jaws, &c. ; in the jaundice, inflammation? 
of the lungs, pleura, stomach, intestines, and other 
viscera; in apoplexy, vertigo, or giddiness ; and in 



OBSERVATIONS ON BLOOD-LETTING. 131 

all disorders where the head seems affected ; in the 
beginning of impost humations, or collections of 
matter in any part of the body, attended With great 
pain; in plethoric or full habits of body, where pro- 
per exercise has been long neglected ; and when a 
horse becomes bieathless on the least exercise. 

On the other hand, bleeding is to be avoided, un- 
less in very urgent cases, in all extremes of very 
hot or very cold weather, and whilst a horse is over- 
heated from violent exercise ; in all cases of ex- 
treme lowness of body, or weakness, through fatigue, 
disease, &c.; after all evacuations by purging or 
scouring, diabetes, or profuse staleing, loss of blood, 
from great wounds, or profuse sweating. Bleeding 
is likewise to be avoided, when imposthumations, or 
collections of matter is once formed properly in any 
part of the body ; likewise during the time horses 
are moulting in the autumn. 

Thus, I have endeavoured to show the principal 
cases where bleeding is necessary, and likewise 
where it ought to be avoided ; no doubt particular 
cases and accidents may, besides those above men- 
tioned, happen, when bleeding may be necessary, but 
these, from what has been said upon the subject, 
will readily occur to the judicious practitioner. 



CHAP. XX. 

A CONCISE VIEW OF THE ANATOMY OP 
THE FOOT. 



1 HE foot of the Horse developes a curious, compli- 
cated, and lieautiful structure. It comprises all that 
portion trom the coffin-joint downwards; and for 
the sake of perspicuity, is generally divided into the 
internal and external foot. 

INTERNAL FOOT. 

The internal foot of the horse is composed of 
▼arious sensihle parts, appropriated to different pur- 
poses. !t comprises in the first place, the navicular 
and coffin-bones. T'.ie navicular-bone constitutes 



ANATOMY OF THE FOOT. 133 

the posterior part of the coffin-joint, and is connect- 
ed to the pastern, and coffin-bones, by ligaments. 
The coffin-bone is the lowest; and last bone of either 
extremity. These two bones are the base and sup- 
port of the column of bones above, and act as pul- 
lies to those tendons which are inserted into the 
foot. Their union serves to prevent concussion 
when the limb is in motion. 

The internal foot comprises in the next place, a por- 
tion of those tendons that enter the foot for insertion ; 
a considerable quantity of fatty substance situated be- 
hind the back tendons, and serving as a soft and elastic 
cushion for those tendons to act, or rest upon; also 
two thin cartilages growing out laterally from the 
coffin-bones, which help to prevent concussion and 
keep the heels of the foot expanded ; the sensible 
frog and sole ; and lastly a sensible laminated sub- 
stance covering all the anterior and lateral parts of 
the internal foot, which being received into corres- 
ponding lamina3 on the internal surface of the crust, 
support the whole weight of the animal. This has 
been proved by removing the horny sole, frog, and 
bars, (constituting the bottom of the foot) when the 
crust was found sufficient to sustain the horses weight. 
These laminae possess great elasticity, and afford to 
12 



134 A CONCISE VIEW OF THE 

the foot a most curious and complicated spring. The 
internal foot secretes the external hoof; in other 
words, the external horny hoof grows from the in- 
ternal sensible foot ; consequently the internal foot 
must necessarily be supplied with numerous blood- 
vessels and nerves, which render it highly sensible 
and easily inflamed. Any contraction of, or undue 
pressure upon, the horny hoof is propagated to the 
internal sensible foot, and interrupts its functions ; 
consequently pain, disease and lameness follow. 

EXTERNAl. FOOT. 

The external foot, or horny hoof is intended to 
enclose, and protect from injury the internal vascu- 
lar and sensible foot. It is composed of a hard, 
elastic, but insensible substance, very durable, and 
admirably calculated for the purpose for which it 
was intended. It consists of the wall or crust, the 
sole, the frog, and the bars. The upper part of the 
crust, where it is connected with the skin, is called 
the coronet. The lower part in front, the toe ; the 
sides of the crusl are named the quarters ; the 
quarters terminate in the heels : and the heels are con- 
nected with the frog. The crust descends from (he 
coronet to the base (in a well formed foot) in a re- 



ANATOMY OF THE FOOT. 135 

gular slope, at an angle of about forty-five degrees, 
giving to the hoof somewhat of a conical figure. 

The inside of the crust is almost entirely covered 
with a beautiful set of laminae, which very much re- 
semble the under side of a mushroom. These are 
received into, and united with similar laminae, situated 
on the outer surface of the internal sensible foot, and 
constitute a most powerful spring, to the horse in mo- 
tion. The number of laminae situated on the inside 
of the crust, has been computed at about five hun- 
dred, in a middling sized horse. The outer surface 
of the internal foot contains an equal number to re- 
ceive them. Each laminae or fold has two sides and 
an edge ; making three surfaces of union to each la- 
minae. Consequently one foot of a middling sized 
horse has three thousand points of union ; giving to 
it a surface of about four square feet. Now as a 
horse has four feet, and as each foot has a surface 
of bearing of about four square feet, it follows that 
a horse treads on sixteen square feet, instead of as 
many inches, as might naturally be supposed. It 
has been stated above that the attachment or union 
between the folds or laminae on the inner surface of 
the external foot or crust, and the folds or laminae on 
the outer surface of the internal foot, are equal to 



136 ANATOMY OF THE FOOT. 

the support of the weight of the animal, when the 
horny hoof, sole, frog and bars are removed. This 
proves pretty clearly that the crust was intended to 
support the weight of the horse, and not the frog, 
as some have believed. Professor Coleman founded 
his system of shoemg upon the idea that the frog 
ought constantly to press upon the ground and sup- 
port in a great measure the weight of the animal. 
I may at some future period give an opinion upon 
this subject, but at present I shall pass it over by 
remarking that I am informed from a source that 
may be credited, that Mr. Coleman's system is not 
now practised at the Veterinary College, where he 
is Professor and principal Director, nor in the Caval- 
ry where he is the first Veterinary Surgeon. It 
would seem therefore that experience has not prov- 
ed its practical utility. 



EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 



PLATE I. 



Fig. 1. — Represents part of a fore-leg, with a side 
view of the foot, shod on Mr. Goodwin's system. 

a. — Shows the shoe on a straight line from the 
heel to the point of curve, and also the degree of 
curve at the toe. 

6, &c. — The parts where the nerve operation is 
usually performed. 

Fig. 2. — A side view of the coffin-bone. 

a. — Shows the degree of curve at the toe, in the 
natural bone, and harmonising with the French me- 
thod of shoeing. 



138 EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 



PLATE IL 

Fig. 1. — Natural hoof. 

a. — French method of driving the nails within the 
crust, and going through a portion of the sole. 
Fig. 2.— Contracted hoof. 
Fig. 3. — Convex sole, or pumiced hoof 
Fig. 4. — Flat thin hoof, with weak low heels. 
Fig. 5. — Natural coffin-bone. 
Fig. 6. — Coffin-bone after some years shoeing. 



PLATE in. 

Fig. 1. — Patten shoe. 

Fjg. 2 — Screw shoe. 

Fig. 3. — Bar shoe, the foot side, with the bar raised. 

Fig. 4. — Plain bar shoe, the foot side. 

Fig. 5. — Road shoe, with moveable toe-pieces. 

Fig. 6. — Frost shoe, with moveable ruffs. 

«. a, o. — Degree of curve at the toe. 



EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 139 



PLATE IV. 

Fig. 1. — Mr. Goodwin's shoe, the ground side. 
Fig. 2. — Ditto Ditto, the foot side. 

Fig. 3.- -French horse nail. 

Fig. 4 — Straight line from the heel to the point 
of curve at the toe, with the degree of curve. 

PLATE V. 

Fig. 1 — Speedy cut boot. 

Fig. 2. — Swab. 

Fig. 3. — Water boot. 

Fig. 4. — Bottom for water boot. 

Fig. 5. — Rope boot. 



PLATE II. 




PLATE III. 




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